


The Flight

by acurry818



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Airplane Crashes, Behavioral Analysis Unit (Criminal Minds), Crash Landing, Crime, FBI, Healing, Investigation, Multi, Recovery, Survival, bau
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 09:13:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 24,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18657415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acurry818/pseuds/acurry818
Summary: The Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Quantico, VA,  has been requested to help on a case in Carson City, NV. The team is prepared to assist the local police force but an unexpected plane crash happens, leaving the team to work together to survive in the middle of nowhere and to try and find out what happened.Join the BAU on their journey of work and friendship as they have to use their training and each other, to get back home.





	1. Time to Fly

"Wheels up in thirty," Hotch say to his coworkers as he stands and walks out of the room.

He always feels bad for pulling them out on their days off to come and work a case.

This job has ruined their lives, he has lost his wife and almost lost his son to a man they had hunted.

JJ has started a family but the images have scarred her mind, so every case reminds her of what she has left at home.

Rossi is married to the job; and that has ruined three of his marriages.

Morgan and Garcia try to live their lives the best and brightest they can, but don't get very far because a criminal is always out there.

Reid is unable to go out and see the world for its beauty because of what he has seen; and because of that, he prefers to live in his head.

Kate is the newest to the BAU and the team can practically see the joy of life leave her due to the ugly sights of the job.

But they each have made a pledge to serve and protect the people of the United States; and every life saved, every victim returned home safely, makes this job worth while.

Today the team has been requested to assist on a case in Carson City, Nevada. Four bodies have been found with homemade tattoos on them, put on by the unsub; most likely a message to the police.

Hotch goes back into his office, packs away a few other case files that are laying on his desk, grabs his to-go bag and stops to look out the window from his office overlooking the bull pin where the other agents are.

He watches as they quickly throw things together and get ready to leave.

Hotch then leaves his office and walks to where the rest of the team waits.

"Ready?" He asks, not directly a real question, because he knows they are.

Morgan picks up his bag from the ground, "as much as I'll ever be," he says with a little sarcasm in his voice, as he follows the rest of the team onto the elevator.

They walk out of the FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, and load their few bags into the government issued vehicles and drive to the private airport in which they fly out of.

Once they are aboard the jet, they take their seats for takeoff. After a few minutes, the jet is smoothly flying through the air and the team adjust their seats to go over the case they have before them.

"So... we have four bodies with tattoos they didn't have before they disappeared. They were dumped around several high tourist attractions and left in the open to be spotted," JJ says, reviewing the case while the laptop on the table beeps and Garcia appears on the screen.

"Hey baby girl, what do you got for us?" Morgan says with a grin but still completely serious about the case.

Garcia looks into the screen and replies to her friend, "nothing besides what JJ just said."

"Garcia, how long was each victim missing?" Rossi asks, sitting out of view of the laptop camera.

"Three days. And we can tell he doesn't have a type because he has picked four people that couldn't be the same in any way. Age, race, job status, sexual orientation, money, religion, everything. Everything is different about these victims," she rambles from the opposite side of the camera.

"So he doesn't have a preference, then victims picked at random?" Reid speaks, sitting on the arm of the couch, looking over the case file.

He looks up from the file and looks at the lady on the computer screen, "how long was it till they were reported missing and do the have anything in common about the place where the ran into the unsub?"

The team can hear clicking from the other end of the computer as Garcia searches it up.

"The families of each victim reported them missing approximately 15 hours after the were taken. The victims were picked up a gas station and were dropped approximately 20 miles away."

Reid thanks Garcia and JJ speaks up, "so tattoos and tourist attractions must be significant to him. Not very specific."

"We don't have much.. When we land, Rossi and Reid, you go to the morgue and check the bodies. Morgan, take Kate and go visit the last drop spot. JJ and I will go to the station and see what else we can dig up. We have about one hour till landing so why don't we all rest because who knows what we'll find when we land," Hotch says as the team scatters around the plane to have some quiet time.

Everyone is resting when all of a sudden, the plane takes a turn and starts to dive down.

They are all quickly responsive, because when the realize the unexpected detour, Hotch is looking out the window.

"We are falling. Grab a seat and buckle up," he barks at his coworkers, as they all do as they are told.

Hotch makes sure his fellow agents are secure, and gets up to check on the pilot. He reaches the cockpit to find the pilot and copilot dead in their seats with all the controls ruined and unreadable.

As he races to his seat, the ground seems to be approaching much faster. He is able to pick up the laptop which had been flown off the table, as he sits and buckles up. Garcia is surprisingly still on the screen and the only thing Hotch could get out was "help" before the jet takes a nose dive and rams into the hard, mountainous ground.


	2. Time to Research

Garcia stares at the black computer screen in utter shock. Tears run down her face as she lets out a small scream.

Garcia herself, isn't even sure what happened to her friends, but she runs from her small office and down halls to the office of the Section Chief.

Not even caring what's going on inside the office, she barges in, to see Cruz sitting at his desk going over paperwork.

When he looks up to see Garcia, crying, in his office, he immediately stands and confronts her. "What is it?" He asks in all seriousness, as he grabs a tissue for her.

"Th-their gone!!" she cries and puts the tissue to her eyes.

"Who's gone? The team? Yes, they had a case; they left this morning. You should know this Garcia," Cruz says, trying to be concerned with what's going on.

"No!" Garcia snaps, "I was on call with them in the jet and seconds later, Hotch said help, and he was panicking. And and," she stutters, "and then the screen went black. Sir I think the jet fell." Garcia looses it, she starts trembling at the thought of her friends out, hurt somewhere, and she couldn't do anything about it.

Cruz's face looses all color as he runs to the phone and quickly dials a number.

Garcia isn't sure who Cruz is calling but after she hears him spit a few words, he hangs up and takes Garcia out into the hallway.

By the movement in the hallways, people must have just been alerted.

Cruz looks at Garcia, as they continue walking down the hallway, "this is going to be an all hands on deck search. But you are member of this team so you use whatever knowledge and still you have to track that plane, find out where our coworkers are, and get them home safely."

And with that, Garcia rushes to her desk to locate her friends. She sits at her colorful desk, although all the happy knickknacks have no effect on lifting her dreadful mood.

She stares at the computer screen for what feels like hours when there is a knock on the door. The knock breaks Garcia's trance, as she blinks several times while turning around to see who enters.

She feels aggravated yet relieved when she sees the familiar face of Kevin walk through the door. 

"Hey. I'm so so sorry about what's happening," he says as he goes right up to Garcia and hugs her, which brings back the bad memories for Garcia, and she hugs back. "I was sent down here to see if you needed help. Mind some company?" Kevin asks as he pulls away from the hug.

"Okay, just take a seat," Garcia says as she clears off a spot for his laptop and takes her seat once again.

"What are you working on right now? I'll see if I can help," the male tech says as he opens his laptop and logs on.

Garcia begins to type again, "I'm trying to locate the plane's coordinates before it went down; but I'm having no luck getting in to the plane towers system."

"The U.S. cracked down on the plane technology in those towers because of 9/11 and other related events. You can keep trying but it might be easier just to ask the operator."

Garcia nods and dials the number of a tower operator.

"Hello?" says a voice coming from the other end.

"Hi, I am Penelope Garcia with the Behavioral Analyst Unit of the FBI and I need to get into a tower's system close to Denver, Colorado."

The lady on the other end replies, "sorry I can't do that for you ma'am. You can't get into the system. We don't allow that anymore."

"Does it sound like I care if you don't allow it anymore?" Garcia yells into the phone, "A team of FBI agents were in a plane that is believed to have gone down in that area and its of need to find their location immediately."

"Okay Miss. I'll grant you access."

"Thank you ," Garcia says impatiently as the lady let's her into the secure network.

Garcia looks at Kevin to find that he is looking at her.

"What happened with not allowed to call yourself an FBI agent?" he asks, almost in a sarcastic form.

She looks at him with a straight face, "anything to find my friends."

And with that, she turns back to her computer and looks to where the plane was last spotted.


	3. Time to Find

Hotch opens his eyes with a gaze and he is immediately hit with a pain in his body.

No matter how much bad it hurts, he manages to sit up and takes a look at his surroundings.

The plane is scattered in pieces around the rocky terrain and shards of metal lay everywhere.

He carefully glares around to see if he can spot a member of his team, but has no luck.

Within a few minutes, and with excruciating pain, Hotch is able to get on his feet for a better look at everything.

He stumbles around the wreckage, trying not to injure himself any more than he already is.

With a quick examination of his body, he finds that he has broken his left arm, twisted his right ankle bad enough for it to swell, a severe concussion, and a back issue.

The ground is hard enough to walk on, but being hurt, slows down Hotch even more.

It is still daylight, so that helps, but only knowing when the plane went up, not knowing how long he had been out, made it unsure of how much daylight he had left to find his friends.

In just a few minutes, he is able to use his suit coat to make a sling for his arm; which makes it much more easier to move around.

After determining if he would be able to walk around without falling, he heads for the main part of the wreckage.

He is able to navigate himself around the plane easily due to having worked multiple cases involving crashed planes.

Hotch finds himself at the wreckage of the cockpit, where the already two dead pilots lay.

Not being able to examine them earlier, he moves over to them and takes a look.

He finds nothing noticeable wrong with the bodies, but that the steering wheel of the plane has been jammed.

What had been used to destroy the control panel, Hotch could not determine, but it was something very effective, as he couldn't read anything on the panel.

Without being able to find anything else without his team, and in needing to find his team, Hotch travels out of the cockpit and into the area where he had last seen his team.

It was in pieces, and gathering on how far he himself was thrown, his team could be anywhere.

He turns to travel west, in hope to find someone. He walks through the mountainous terrain, stepping over, or simply walking across parts of the plane and gets about 25 yards from the plane when he notices something moving.

With the best of his ability, Hotch moves quickly to the moving object.

When he reaches the area, he smiles when he finds the familiar face of JJ stirring on the ground.

"Hotch," JJ is able to say in a whisper as she turns again, in pain.

"JJ. JJ, it's me. What hurts?" Hotch asks to his female coworker and friend.

He grabs her and leans her up, when he notices the blood on the back of her head and down her neck.

"JJ can you hear me?" he asks, trying to keep her awake.

"Mmm," is all she is able to reply. Hotch rips off a piece of his suit-sling and does his best to tie it around her head, trying to stop the bleeding.

"It's okay JJ, you'll be okay," Hotch says as he carefully leans her against a flat, sturdy, piece of metal.

He stands and looks to see if anyone else is around; but no one is.   
He moves back over to JJ, who is still moving in pain, and sits down beside her.

"Hotch," JJ is able to say again.

"JJ, you remember what happened?"

She nods in pain, "yes, the jet went down."

Hotch, glad she can recall that, nods and speaks again. "Well, we need to find the rest of the team before it gets dark. You think you can walk?"

"I... I can try," JJ stutters as she reaches out for Hotch to help her up.

She gets to her feet and wobbles, leaning on Hotch's shoulder. "Good, good," Hotch says, putting his arm around JJ's waist to stabilize her, "let's walk a few feet."

It starts off rough but after they walk for a few minutes, JJ is able to move faster.

"You doing okay?" Hotch asks.

"Been better, but I'm doing okay," JJ states, showing a weak smirk as she looks at Hotch.

"Can you keep going?"

"Yeah, let's find our friends," JJ says as they both stumble over torn pieces of metal, looking for their friends.


	4. Time to Walk

Morgan sits up, the ground spinning. He has to think for a few seconds on what just happened, and then it comes to him.

After a few minutes of letting his eyes adjust and letting the dizziness settle down, Morgan is able to move to his feet.

When he stands, he gets light headed and falls, but before he hits the ground, someone's hands go around his chest.

"Hey there, careful now," says a familiar voice. Morgan turns to face the voice to find Rossi, who didn't seem badly hurt.

"Thanks Rossi," Morgan says.

"How you feeling? What hurts?" Rossi asks, checking Morgan out.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a little shaken up, what about you? You look fine!"

Rossi smirks and let's out a small chuckle in this hard time, "you don't think a plane crash can take me out do you? No way."

Morgan returns the friendly smirk, "how long you been walking around here?"

"Only a little bit, not sure how long. I woke up on the ground with a bad headache, so I sat for a little bit but decided that that was useless if one of you guys were seriously hurt so I blocked out the pain and went walking trying to find you guys. And that's when I stubbled on to you right as you were going down," Rossi says, as he walks around looking to see if he could see anyone else. 

"I'm assuming you had no luck finding anyone," Morgan guesses.

"You assumed correctly. You think you can walk?" Rossi asks.

Morgan moves towards Rossi, "yeah. Let's find them. It's gonna be dark soon."

They walk across the rough ground side by side, looking for their friends.

They walk over shards of metal and spot the plane in the distance.

"Wow," Morgan says as they get closer to the wreckage.

"Oh my. This can't be good," Rossi says as they reach the plane from the back.

They walk around the main seating portion of the plane but don't find anything.

"This doesn't look good Rossi," Morgan says as he walks over the torn up seats from the plane.

"Rossi, over here," Morgan says as he picks up the laptop from earlier and opens up, hoping somehow that it had survived.

The computer flashes static on the screen and then goes dead.

"Well if it had happened to turn on, that just sent a message to Garcia," Rossi says as he turns back around to the wreckage.

"Where is everyone else? You think they'd all meet back at the plane," Morgan says as he throws the laptop back onto the ground.

"You do know we fell from the sky, right? Let's just wait here and see what we can find and maybe they will head here," Rossi states as he moves around the rubble.

Morgan just nods his head and remembers the phone in his pocket.

He opens up the phone, with hope because it's still alive, and dials Garcia's number.

He presses call but the phone deeps saying no signal.

"Dammit no signal," he spits and shoves the phone back into his pocket.

While he was cursing, Rossi had found his way to the cockpit.

"Morgan!" Rossi yells to his partner.

Morgan makes his way over to where Rossi is and notices the two dead pilots in their seats.

"Well, something's telling me the crash didn't cause this," Rossi says as he moves closer to the bodies.

"Look at this," he says to Morgan, gesturing at the piece of metal jamming the plane's steering wheel.

"How the hell did that happen? We were in the air for three hours before anything happened."

Rossi shakes his head, "well we have a suspect and a victim right here," he says he he looks back to the pilot and copilot.

"And look at the dashboard; it's ruined. Someone had a plan to bring this plane down. We just have to figure out who it was and why they would want to do this," Morgan says as he exits the cockpit with Rossi following.

"Do you think this could have been terrorism? Morgan asks as he walks around the tip of the plane.

"Not sure," Rossi says, "Morgan come here for a second."

"What?" he says as he stands besides Rossi.

"Just take a look, you don't get to see it from the view point very often," Rossi says as he watches the sun set below the trees.

Morgan let's out a small laugh, just because it was such a topic change, and nods, "yeah I guess you're right."

They stay quiet for a few minutes when off in the distance, Morgan hear a voice.

"Rossi did you hear that?"

"What?"

"Shhh listen."

They both turn and listen to their surroundings.

"Hello?!" Morgan yells as he runs to the direction of the voice.

Morgan gets over a small hill and sees two silhouettes of people walking towards them, struggling to get over the terrain.

"Hotch!"


	5. Time to Camp

"Look!" JJ says as she points to a figure off in the distance.

Hotch and JJ make their way over the mountainous region and get close enough to the person to be able to see that the figure was their friend, Morgan.

"Morgan!" Hotch yells.

"There is someone with him," JJ states as she squints, "looks like it's Rossi."

After a few minutes of hiking over uneven ground, Hotch and JJ reach the plane and are greeted by hugs from both Rossi and Morgan.

"Hey Aaron, you hurt your arm?" Rossi asks, gesturing to the homemade sling.

"Yeah, I think it's broken. Where's Reid and Kate?" Hotch asks as he looks around.

"You never saw them? We were hoping they met up with you guys. We've looked but couldn't find any of you," Morgan answers.

Hotch puts his good hand to his head in panic. "It's going to be night soon, and it gets cold up here at night. We need to find them and set up camp."

JJ speaks up for the first time after reuniting with the others, "I understand we really need to find them but shouldn't we stay here in case they or rescuers come? Spenc should know to meet up-"

"But what if he's unable to. Him and Kate could be seriously hurt out there," Rossi interrupts.

"One thing is that we can not split up. Understood? We are vulnerable as it is, and you and I are hurt. Its not safe," Hotch lectures, as the group stops their arguing and become quiet.

"Okay," Morgan says, breaking the silence, "we need a plan."

After a few minutes of sorting their thoughts, which they do best together, they agree on a plan.

"We stick together," Hotch speaks up to his team members, "we will set up camp using the things from the plane, and each of us will take an hours watch in case we hear from Reid and Kate. For now, Morgan, go collect some wood and stones for a small fire. Rossi and JJ, let's find some pieces of metal and fabric for sleeping mats. Anything is better than this ground."

"Yes sir," Morgan replies as he moves to the small wooded part of the mountain.

He scans the ground for usable wood.

Walking through the woods brings back all the memories of cases in which people were taken from woods. This job has ruined so many activities for Morgan.

But he gets his head out of the clouds and picks up some branches that the plane brought down and some rocks laying around and makes his way back over to the plane, where his team waits.

"Wow you really use all the materials you can get don't you," Morgan says as he looks around at the six 'beds' made from metal and the padding from the seats.

"Of course. You know, this job really makes you aware of everything so you tend to catch on to things," Rossi says.

"But with my help of course," JJ states, sarcastically, but lays down on her mat in discomfort.

"I'll help you with the fire, Morgan," Hotch says as he moves to the middle circle of the mats.

"Hotch, I'm a big kid. I know who to start a fire."

Hotch looks at Morgan, "yeah I know that, but the last thing we need up here is a forest fire. So you're going to listen to and do what I say."

Morgan agrees and lends his attention to his boss, not daring speak back to Hotch.

"You can set up the wood like a regular bonfire but once you're finished with that, place a circle of rocks around it so the fire won't spread," Hotch says, giving Morgan his space to work.

Morgan does as he is told and lays the final rock into place. He then grabs two sticks and rubs them against each other to get them hot.

After a few minutes, the sticks are hot enough and start to flame. Morgan sets them at the base of the tower of wood and they all watch as it goes up in flames.

"Ah that feels nice," JJ says as she carefully moves her mat closer to the source of the heat, "now if only there was a buffet in front of me, I'd be good."

They all laugh and Morgan pats JJ's leg, "yeah you and me both."

"Keep your eyes out for animals and we might get lucky and catch ourselves some dinner," Rossi states, "I don't mind some good old hunting."

The team rests by the fire for a few minutes, when an animal jumps from the bushes.

"Hotch! Go for the   
head," Rossi yells as Hotch pulls his gun from his side.

He pulls the trigger and the animal goes down.

"Not bad for having a bad arm," Rossi jokes as he moves towards the dead animal.

"Are you kidding me," Morgan whines as he reaches the animal, "even with a bad arm, you hit dead on. What can't you hit?!"

Hotch smirks and he puts the gun back in the holster.

"Looks like we get some deer for dinner," says Rossi as he and Morgan start to skin the animal.

After a while of preparing and cooking the animal, they are able to eat.

"We need to save some for Spenc and Kate," JJ says as she pushes Morgan's hand away from grabbing another piece.

"She's right," Hotch says, "and we all need a few hours sleep so tomorrow we can find Reid and Kate."

No one argues as the clean themselves up as much as possible and lay on their mats.

"I'll take first watch. Rossi, I'll wake you in an hour or so," says Hotch as he sits up.

Rossi opens his mouth to offer first watch, but Hotch nods and Rossi lays back on the ground.

"Goodnight," JJ says in her 'mom' voice, and Hotch sits, thinking about Jack at home, and listening to the heavy breathing of his friend slowly become steady as they drift off to sleep.


	6. Time to Send

Garcia swings around in her chair to face another computer screen. She had been staring at those screens for several hours in effort to find her friends.

People have constantly been barging into her small office to see what she has found; which was the same answer every time, nothing.

Garcia scoots back from computers and puts her head in her hands.

Kevin moves over to her side, "hey it's okay. We'll find them."

She moves her head to look at Kevin, "I will look until we do but what I worry about is that we won't find them in time..."

"Hey hey hey don't think like that. We will find them and everything will be okay. I promise. Now would you like me to go get us some food and coffee?" he asks as he gives her a small smirk.

Garcia thinks for a second, "chocolate. Chocolate and hot tea."

Kevin laughs and stands, "I'll go and buy us some chocolate. It helps with everything doesn't it." He pats Garcia on the shoulder and walks out the door.

Garcia leans back into her chair and lets out a sigh. She sits silent for a minute and suddenly gets up and walks from her office, not totally sure where she is heading.

She finds herself in Morgan's office, sitting in his office chair. She sits there embracing his presence.

Garcia studies the pictures on his desk and the small knickknacks that she had given him over the years.

One picture sitting on the corner of his desk catches her eyes, a picture of Morgan and Garcia together.

She picks up the frame and leaves the office.

She slips into Hotch's office and walks over to his desk. She smiles when she finds framed pictures of Jack and Haley sitting by the computer screen.

On the outside, Hotch is so tight and never shows his emotions, so this was a good thing to see that he has memories of his family with him.

She picks up a framed family photo of the Hotchners and takes it with her along with the picture of Morgan.

Garcia then heads to JJ's office and quickly picks out a picture of her and her family.

She heads to the other agent's desks in the bullpen area and picks out several pictures from their desks and heads back to her office.

Garcia gets to work by setting all the frames up around by her computer screen.

When they are all in place, Garcia takes a seat and Kevin walks in.

"I see you decorated," he says as he sets the food down and bends over to look at the pictures.

"I improvised. But now we need to work," Garcia states as she grabs a piece of chocolate and turns to her computer screen.

Kevin takes his seat by his computer, "what do you need me to do now?"

"I need you to check their phones one more time while I try to break into this black box," she says as she types.

They both sit, staring at their computers when Kevin slams his hands on the desk, "Penelope! Morgan's phone was turned on about two hours ago but it's off now."

"Garcia almost falls from her chair when she spins to face Kevin. She moves over to look at his findings, "find that location right now."

"I- I can get the general area but from the looks of it... they are in the mountains," Kevin says as he clicks around some more on his laptop.

"Oh my," Garcia says as she begins to tear up again at the thought of them stranded on a mountain.

"The Rocky Mountains. Morgan's phone reached out for a signal, which he was unable to connect, about three hours west of Denver, somewhere around Mount Elbert," Kevin says as he pulls up a map.

"Why don't you pull of satellite images of the area around the time I was on video call with them. I need to go brief Cruz," Garcia says as she hurries out the door.

"Sir we have something," she says as she peaks her head in Cruz's office.

"Good. I'm right behind you," he says as she gets up and follows her back into her office.

"Mr. Lynch, what do you have for us?" Cruz asks as he looks at the computer screens.

"Sir," Kevin says as he looks up at the section chief and back at the computer, "we found satellite images of the plane right before it fell and we have reason for the plane to have crashed approximately in this area," he says as he pulls up a map with a circled area of Colorado.

"That's a mountainous area. It will be real hard to get rescue teams on foot down there. But we will. And we will find them and bring them home. Good work guys," Cruz says as he heads out the door.

"Sir?" Garcia asks.

Cruz turns, "yes?"

"Do you mind if I follow you to your office to listen to you alert the rescue teams? I just want to... you know, make sure we are actually working to find them," she asks as she voice gets shaky.

"Sure. Come, follow me."

They both head down the halls into his office. Cruz gets in the phone, introduces himself and orders search teams to the area west of Denver.

He hangs up the phone and looks at Garcia, "helicopters are in route now as we speak."


	7. Time to Watch

"JJ wake up," Morgan says as he gently shakes her small body.

"Mmm," she responds as she rolls over to face him.

Morgan scoots over to allow JJ to sit up, "hey sorry to wake you but it's your turn to keep watch." 

JJ sits up next to her friend and rubs her sleepy eyes, "okay. I got this, you go get some sleep."

"Here, take this. Be careful and wake us up if anything happens," Morgan says as he hands her a gun.

"Thanks," she says as she sets the gun by her side.

Morgan quickly falls back asleep and JJ is left to sit alone in the dark wilderness with her thoughts roaming free.

What if we don't find Spenc and Kate in time. What if we are already too late. What if I never see Will or Henry again? Never kiss him goodnight, never get to see him grow up. What if people aren't looking for us and we die out here. What if-

JJ's thoughts are soon interrupted when a light from the sky catches her eyes.

A single light and the sound of a helicopter come into range and JJ is quickly scrambling to wake up the others before the helicopter is out of sight.

"Guys, guys wake up. A helicopter is here. They are here for us," she says as she gets to her feet with excitement.

In a few seconds, Hotch is on his feet and gathering the others.

Morgan gets up and starts throwing wood into the fire, building it up, hoping to gain the pilot's attention.

Rossi grabs a piece of scrap metal and holds it above his head, trying to reflect the light back to the pilot.

"Hey!! We are down here! Help us! " Hotch yells as he waves his good arm in the air.

The team tries to capture the attention of the pilots for what feels like hours but in reality only a few minutes, using methods they had picked up after working so many cases like this.

After a few minutes of the helicopter circling the area but no signal they could see them, Morgan turns to Hotch, "let me see your gun. That will surely get their attention."

Hotch is uneasy about this idea but after a second, he gives in.

Hotch hands Morgan the gun and Morgan takes aim and fires it into the sky with a big bang echoing through the land.

They all stand, looking up at the sky, when the helicopter does one last search of the ground below and flies off in the opposite direction.

"Dammit," Morgan says as he kicks the ground, "I scared them off. I shouldn't have shot at them. Why did I do that!? Why would I shoot at a helicopter. They probably thought it was some natives wanting them to stop disturbing them."

"Morgan, it's not your fault. We did the best we could. They'll be back to do another look," Hotch says as he pats Morgan on the shoulder.

"No no no no no. This can't be happening. They have to come back," JJ cries as she curls up on the ground.

Rossi steps forward and swoops down to sit beside the crying profiler, "Jennifer, hey hey don't cry. They will come back and we will get out of here."

He wraps his arm around JJ as she comes to lean on his shoulder.

"Promise me that we will see our families again," she says as she curls up against his body.

Rossi takes the smaller hand in his, "look at me," JJ raises her head. "We all will get out of here safe and sound. All you have to do is stay strong and have hope."

JJ soon settles down and closes her eyes, still in the arms of Rossi.

Morgan sits on his mat with his head in his hands and Hotch throws more wood onto the fire and moves to sit down.

"Hey Aaron, come over and sit with us. Morgan you too. We all could use some time together," says Rossi as he pats the mat, careful not to disturb the profiler resting by his side.

And with that, Hotch sits on the other side of JJ and Morgan scoots in next to Rossi.

"Everything's going to be okay," says Rossi once again, as they all start to drift to sleep in each other's arms.


	8. Time to Remember

Kate's eyes open and panic is quickly sent through her body when she realizes she is on the ground; with somebody sitting besides her.

"There you are. Are you okay?? I wasn't sure if you were going to wake up so I figured I'd wait here till you did. Didn't want to leave you alone in the dark," he says as he leans over her body.

"Reid?" Kate asks as she tries to sit up, but is unable to.

He moves to stop her from struggling, "hey don't hurt yourself anymore than you already are. Just lay still. Now who's Reid?"

Kate takes a look into the male's eyes, just to be sure, "you are. You are Dr. Spencer Reid-"

"Well if I'm a doctor, I don't remember anything on how to help you.. I'm sorry, you must have the wrong person," he says as he scoots away.

"No no don't leave. I need your help," she says as she tries to reach for him but can't move her arm.

"I- I won't leave you. You'll be okay," he says as he grabs ahold of her hand and lets her calm down.

"I can't move. I- I can't feel anything..." Kate stutters as she struggles again to move but gives up and leans her head back down.

"Umm. Hey, I think I saw an old cabin thing a while back. Would you like to go back there until we figure out what's going to happen," he asks as he stands.

"Sounds fine. I just don't think I can get there on my own," she says as her eyes follow as he paces around.

He paces around for a minute, thinking and then speaks, "if I remember correctly, there was something that might work up at the cabin."

"If course you remembered correctly," she says with some sarcasm.

He stops and looks at Kate, "pardon?"

"Never mind. Just go and get it. Doesn't look like I'll be going anywhere anytime soon," Kate says with a smirk, lighting the mood in this scary time.

"I'll be right back," he says as he runs off in the opposite direction.

Kate lays on her back, looking at the rising sun and slips into her thoughts.

Reid. How does he not remember? Where is the rest of the team? Oh my gosh, what if they are seriously injured. Why can't I move? How long was I out for? How long did Reid sit next to me while I was unconscious? What if Reid really doesn't remember me and doesn't come back, leaving me out here to die; he wouldn't do that would he? Hell, he doesn't remember anything... he doesn't know who I am so really he doesn't have to come back. Oh my, what about Chris and Meg; what if I never get to see them again. They've already lost so much... Amnesia.. Our genius has amnesia-

"Mmmmm," Reid clears his throat, snapping Kate from her thoughts.

She blinks and looks up at him, not sure what to say.

He walks over in her line of sight, dragging something behind him. "I got it."

She finds him pulling a good sized canoe, "that works."

Reid positions the canoe next to her body and leans down over Kate, "I'm not sure if this is going to hurt but we need to get you out of here."

He carefully moves her legs to lean inside the boat and moves over to her head. He grabs under her arms and lifts her and lays her gently down.

"You okay?" he asks.

She nods in response, as he starts to pull the heavy load over the mountains terrain.

After some time of being pulled around, listening to Reid grunt as he pulls the canoe with all his might, they reach the cabin. It is a very small wooden home, probably deserted several years ago.

He marches through the door, pulling the canoe behind him.

He stops in the middle of the room and plops down next her Kate.

"Thank you," is all she can think of saying.

"You are very welcome. Would you like to get out of the boat now?" he asks with a small laugh.

Without waiting for an answer, he gets up and moves a rocking chair from the corner to the middle of the room.

"1. 2. 3.," he counts as he lifts Kate up and into the chair.

"You never told me your name," he asks randomly, as he sits in front of her so she can clearly see him.

"Kate. Kate Callahan," she answers.

"Do you want to know something? It's kinda funny. But I have no idea who I am. I woke up on the ground some time ago and started walking, not sure where I was going. I came across you and had a feeling you needed help. I don't know who I am.... and that scares me," he says as he shyly looks to the ground.

"Hey. Look at me. Would you like to know about yourself?"

He looks up quickly, "yes please."

Kate takes a breath and then begins, "your name is Spencer Reid. You are a Supervisory Special Agent in the FBI and you hold three PHD's, hence the title Doctor. You are out here because we, our team, were on our way to Carson City to help on a case, when our jet crashed. And that is why we are stranded here. Wherever here is."

"FBI? Wow. So you and me are on the same team?" he asks interested.

"Yes. We are in the BAU, meaning Beh-"

"Behavioral Analysis Unit," he says, cutting Kate off.

"Yes, ha there comes the genius we all know," she says with a laugh.

"Genius?"

"Yup. Mr. Spencer Reid with an eidetic memory and can read 20,000 words per minute, plus and IQ of 187. You sir, are a genius."

"Wow," he says with amazement, "can you tell me more about the team?"

"Well, there is Aaron Hotchner, or Hotch, who is the boss. Then there is Rossi, who is the older Italian who's been here since the beginning. Then Morgan, who is the one who wants all the action. JJ is the blonde who takes care of the media. And Garcia is the girl behind the computer," she says and she sits, going into deeper summary of their looks, personalities, and families.

"And they are all out here somewhere?" Reid asks.

"Everyone but Garcia. Oh, she's gotta be freaking out about now. One thing about her, she will never give up until she finds us. And I'm positive about that."

He sits and thinks for a second and then stands, "we need to go find them."

"They are all probably looking for us. We should stay together," she says as she almost leans out of the chair.

Reid moves to catch her and set her back, "you need your rest. How about you get some sleep and I'll go find them. I'll be back before you awake."

Kate doesn't want him to go but can't stop him, "fine. Just promise me that you'll stay safe and come back to me."

"I promise," he says as he heads out the cabin door into the rising sunlight.


	9. Time to Breathe

Reid exits the cabin after saying goodbye to Kate and heads back in the direction he found her.

As he walks, he does his best to remember things from the past, but can't. All he knows about himself is what Kate told him. Kate and himself found is strange that he could remember random facts about useless books and other things but knew nothing personal about himself.

Reid replays the team's descriptions over and over in his head as he stumbles over the rocky terrain once again.

The sun begins to rise higher above the trees and off in distance, Reid can spot a single column of smoke.

He makes it over another uphill climb when he stops in horror as the torn up jet comes into view.

He gets closer to the crash site and can't help himself but to examine the wreckage.

Reid walks through the main sitting room of the jet, or what's left of it, and into the cockpit.

He is distracted by the panels being ruined, and as he moves closer to them, he jumps in shock as he notices how close he was to the dead pilots in their seats.

In disgust and slight horror, he quickly leaves the cockpit and walks out of the wreckage.

As he steps back out, he finds the source of the smoke and four bodies curled up together on a mat.

Without moving, he studies them and finds that they match the description of his team.

Without putting much thought into the situation, Reid walks up to the sleeping bunch and taps Morgan on the shoulder softly.

Morgan stirs and turns to face the source of the tapping, "okay okay I'll do watch, give me a minute."

Clearly knowing that Morgan was still half asleep but unsure what to do, Reid speaks.

"Um, you're Morgan right? From the FBI..." he says awkwardly as he backs away slightly.

"Of course I am," he says as he rubs his tired eyes but at that moment, Morgan's eyes shoot open and he is quickly to his feet, "Reid! Where have you been? Are you okay? Guys, Reid is here!" Morgan says in a hurry as he wakes the others.

The others are soon awake and greeting their fellow team member, asking all sorts of questions, which makes Reid quite uncomfortable.

Hotch, noticing the signs of him being overwhelmed, silences the others and steps towards the youngest profiler.

"Reid, we are gonna do one question at a time because we've all been through a lot," he says as he pats Reid's shoulder and backs away.

"You're not hurt are you?" Hotch asks, as he studies Reid body, but also watches his facial expressions and his 'tells'.

Reid gives a little shake of the head as his reply.

Hotch notices that something isn't right with his friend, but leaves it, because hell, they did just fall from the sky.

JJ breaks the short silence by running (the best she could) to her close friend and gives him a tight hug.

After a brief few words softly exchanged between the two, JJ backs away, "you must be starving! Morgan, could you get some of the leftover food and some water please?"

"Anything for pretty boy," Morgan says with a smirk and turns away to the fire.

Reid is handed a few pieces of meat and a cup of water that the others had found from a steam earlier and gulps it down.

"Why'd you call me 'pretty boy'?" Reid asks shyly, directed towards Morgan, who is sitting across from him, along with the others.

Confused, Morgan looks to see if he is joking, "what?" But noticing that Reid's expressions were genuine, Morgan becomes fearful.

"Why'd you call me 'pretty boy'?" he asks again, which gains the other's attention.

"Um Reid, I've been calling you that for years; it's a joke... don't you know that?" Morgan asks, as he looks to the others for help.

"Oh-" is all Reid is able to get out before his is bombarded with questions from his concerned friends.

"Spenc?" JJ asks with sad eyes.

"Reid?" Hotch asks, trying to connect with him, "what's going on?"

Reid takes a shaky breath and closes his eyes, "I- I don't remember anything."

"What do you mean?" Rossi asks.

"I woke up on the ground a while ago not knowing who I was or what I was doing there. So I went walking and found Kate and I took her to some shelter and she told me who I was and who you all are and I went to get help."

"Amnesia," Morgan realizes that is why he wouldn't remember.

"Wait you found Callahan?" asks Rossi, "where?"

"I went walking and found her unconscious on the ground so I waited for her to wake up and I took her to a cabin because she's hurt... I went out trying to find you guys so you could help her."

"We have to go get her, we either all go there or a few of us need to go and bring her back," Morgan says, trying to think of a plan.

"We all go together. Not taking the risk of getting separated again, we'll think of a plan of what to do after we reach Kate," Hotch orders as they all stand.

They all set out with Reid leading the way, making their way over the mountains again.

After some uneasy path ways and some resting because injuries, they reach the cabin.

Reid, Hotch, and Morgan go inside first while Rossi helps JJ, as she wasn't feeling great due to her head injury and the long hike.

The boys make their way to the middle of the room where Kate sits, slumped in the chair.

"Kate, I found them. I got you help," Reid says to her as he kneels before her and lays a hand on her leg.

"Kate?" Reid asks again, attempting to wake her up.

Hotch moves his hand to her neck, searching for a pulse, and scatters as he yells, "SHE'S NOT BREATHING..."


	10. Time to Panic

"What do you mean they didn't find them?" Garcia snaps as she breaks down from the words Cruz had just spoken.

Cruz, preparing himself for anger and emotions from the technical analyst, stands near the door, giving Garcia her space, takes a deep breath.

"The search teams were out there for hours looking for them. They found nothing so they were told to come back in," Cruz states.

Garcia shakes her head in disbelief and anger, "why would you call them in? They need to stay out and find them!"

"Garcia," Cruz says as he steps closer, "I did not call them in. I was the one telling them to search longer. The search needed to come back and rest and refuel. I will do anything, anything to get them back out as soon as possible."

Garcia spins in her office and into her seat and begins typing with frustration, ignoring the section chief.

"What are you working on?" he asks, leaning in to look at the screen.

She continues to type and stare at the screen, "I'm looking over the satellite images one more time to see if we missed anything."

"I bet you didn't miss anything, you and Mr. Lynch are the best at your jobs so don't take this all on yourself."

Garcia shows a half smile but quickly gets back to business, "any other day I'd love that complement but not today. Not today when my lack of attention to detail could have just killed my friends. I can't live with that guilt."

"You have done nothing wrong; you have been the one not taking a break to find them, you have given everything to help. You are saving the team."

Garcia just shakes her head and there is silence in the room for a moment.

Cruz takes a seat, not wanting to leave the unstable friend, nor miss anything she may find.

"Come look at this," Garcia says to Cruz.

He makes his way over to where she sits and his eyes are directed to where her mouse is on the screen.

"What am I looking at?" he asks.

"These are the satellite images I could get ahold of. They go up until the 3:23 pm when we lose sight of the jet."

Cruz studies the still pictures one by one and nods his head, "and when did you get the message from Hotch?"

She clicks around on another computer and pops up the video, "time stamp says 3:21 pm."

"Okay, okay," Cruz says as he thinks, "well if they were in the air for roughly 4 plus hours-"

"Around 4 hours and 32 minutes. That's how long they are up until we lost signal," Garcia interrupts.

Cruz paces back and forth, thinking, "and Kevin believes they are in the Mt. Elbert area. Can you pull up a map of that region?"

In a few clicks, a map pops up on the screen and they both study it.

"Can you pull satellite images up from just a few hours ago?" he asks.

"I've been trying but I can get into them, hacking nor asking works anymore," she replies.

"Get them on the phone for me," Cruz orders, determined to get the images.

He puts the phone to his ear and waits for the operator to answer.

"Hello this is Section Chief Matt Cruz with the FBI and I have been informed that my technical analysts has been declined access to satellite images of Mt Elbert, Colorado-"

"Excuse me, I wasn't finished," Cruz barks into the phone, "now a team of agents were involved in a plane crash in that area and we need those images."

Cruz stands, nodding his head, "no. We need them now. Lives of the FBI's finest are at risk at this moment and I do not have time for a warrant, but believe me, if I order one, you will be losing your job."

He rolls his eyes and sighs, "I understand, but do you really want to be in the middle if an FBI investigation? No? I didn't think so. So if you wouldn't mind and send them to my technical analyst."

"That's all I was asking. Okay. Thank you," Cruz hangs up the phone and sighs deeply.

"Some people," he says as he shakes his head, "but anyways, you should be receiving them now."

"Thank you," Garcia says as satellite pictures appear on the screens.

"Oh my God," Garcia gasps as she scrolls and finds a picture of a wreckage of a plane.

Cruz pulls out his cell, "Garcia, coordinates now."

"This is Cruz," he says into the phone as Garcia hands him a paper with coordinates, "are your teams ready? We have a location."

He hangs up and heads towards the door but turns to Garcia, " you coming?"

Garcia sits in confusion, "me?"

"Yes. Do you want to come along and find the team."

Garcia gets up and follows the section chief from her office and they end up at the landing pad where three helicopters are waiting.

They load the helicopters and shoot off into the sky.

After four hours pass, and they fly over Colorado, Garcia and Cruz looking out the windows onto the mountainous region.

Time passes and the teams have no luck. Two of the teams are tempted to turn back, but Cruz demands they search one more time, knowing his team was out there somewhere.

"Come on guys, I know you're out here," Garcia whispers to herself.

They reach the part of the mountains where the coordinates match and they both strain their eyes, looking.

Silence is in the air as they look, but soon Garcia breaks it with a screech, "over there!!!! There it is! Oh my God."

All three helicopters circle the area and find suitable area to land.

Cruz helps Garcia, who wasn't dressed like for being in the mountains, out of the helicopter and onto the ground.

They walk the mile or so in the direction of the crash, nerves getting worse the closer they get.

Once they reach a higher spot, they are all able to see the wreckage.

"Oh my-" Garcia makes out as she nearly faints.

Cruz reaches out to steady her, "we have to make it to the wreckage. Can you make it or do you need to go back?"

"I'm going with you; I have to find them," she says as she walks towards the terrifying crash sight with the others trailing behind.


	11. Time to Meet

"Come on Kate," Morgan practically yells as he pushes down on her chest, preforming CPR, Hotch sitting right by his side.

The others stand around nervously, not wanting to get in the way of Morgan or Hotch.

JJ, getting so worked up due to the state Kate's in, barges out the cabin door and sits on the hard ground.

Rossi turns after her, noticing that she is hyperventilating and is trembling. Knowing the symptoms of a panic attack, he kneels next to her, "JJ, listen to my voice. You need to breathe. It's okay. Hey, hey, it's okay, Kate is going to be fine. Morgan is in there doing his best as we speak."

JJ soon gets her breathing under control and looks up at her friend/mentor, "thank you Rossi."

He is about to reply to her but is interrupted by Hotch running through the door telling them that Kate is breathing again.

The two quickly get to their feet and make it inside the cabin to find Morgan sitting beside Kate, who is still laying on her back on the floor.

"She is breathing on her own but she's unconscious," Morgan says, looking up at the others who are standing.

Hotch turns towards JJ, "you okay?" he asks, "you walked out pretty quickly."

JJ nods, "I'm fine Hotch, just needed some space."

"Well, we have enough of that out here in the middle of nowhere," Morgan says sarcastically as the others look at him in annoyance, so he looks back towards Kate.

"What's the plan now?" Reid asks quietly from the corner of the room.

Hotch sighs, "the best thing to do is get back to the wreckage because that's what search teams are looking for, not some old cabin buried in the trees."

JJ looks up from the ground, " how will we get Kate there?"

"Use the canoe, Reid states matter-of-factly, "that's how I got her here in the first place."

"Ahhh pretty boy over here growing some muscles," Morgan says with a smirk but the others just ignore it.

"Actually, -" he starts to says but is cut short by Hotch.

"So we should lay Kate in the canoe, Morgan you are gonna pull it for right now. The rest of us with tag along. Sound like a plan?"

They all nod, not daring question his orders.

Morgan carefully lifts Kate up and into the canoe and start to drag it out the door, where the others wait.

They start their hike once again, Hotch and Rossi leading the way, Morgan and the canoe in the middle, and Reid and JJ behind.

The team is about half ways there when the silence is broken by Reid calling out JJ's name.

They all stop and turn to find JJ on the ground with Reid next to her.

"What happened?" Hotch asks as he kneels close to JJ.

"Nothing, we were just talking and then she just sat down," Reid states, panicked.

"I'm fine Hotch, just a little light headed," she replies softly.

Hotch gently lifts up the cloth he tied around her wound earlier to come across fresh blood on it.

"JJ you're still bleeding. We need to dress this again. Reid, could I use your tie?"

Reid undoes his tie with no question and hands it to Hotch who manages to knot it around her head.

He then helps her up into her feet and she takes a few steps and tumbles.

"Looks like you need some help," Rossi says as he helps her stand still.

JJ gives a small, embarrassed smile and uses the help offered.

She wraps her arms around Rossi's and Hotch's shoulder and uses theirs balance to keep walking.

They all start off again after making sure Kate was okay and that JJ could make it the rest of the way.

After some more talking and walking, they reach the final climb to overlook the wreckage.

They all stare at it for a moment when Morgan speaks out, "someone is down there."

When they spot more than four bodies walking through the wreckage, they start to head down there, not knowing what to expect.

The team stops by the fire when Garcia walks out from the plane and screams, causing Cruz to come running.

For a quick moment, they all just stand in shock, studying each other.

But soon, Garcia couldn't wait any longer and runs and gives Morgan a tight hug.

She then moves to JJ and then Rossi, and Hotch, who all accept the hug and give one in return.

When she gives Reid a hug, who was never a big touchy person anyways, she knew something was wrong.

She steps back and then notices the body of Kate laying in the canoe behind them.

She runs up to the side of the canoe, crying and reaching for Kate; and Morgan has to pull her back, "hey she's alive. She's breathing on her own, she's just not conscious."

"How long has she been like that?" speaks Cruz for the first time.

Hotch looks at the section chief, "about an hour. Morgan had to perform CPR but we got her back."

Cruz nods, "and your arm?"

Hotch looks down at his sling, "broken sir. JJ has a head injury, Rossi and Morgan seem to be fine, and Reid here, we think he has amnesia."

"It is truly amazing that you guys weren't hurt more. Looking at this crash, it's one of the worst I've seen and you guys got out fine on the most part. Garcia here, has been looking for you ever since that video message you managed to send. She never gave up on you guys," Cruz says with a small smile.

"Sir, we should probably head back to the helicopters," says a rescue member who had been standing in the background the whole time.

Cruz turns to face the man, "yes. You guys able to walk another mile to the helicopters?" he asks as he turns back towards the team.

"Most likely," Rossi speaks up as they all get moving again.

Another mile is behind them when they reach the helicopters in which will get them out of the mountains.

The pilots hop in and start them up, as the team loads into the three separate helicopters; Kate now laying on a medical stretcher.

Hotch, Cruz, and JJ prepare for liftoff in one of the helicopters when chatter goes through the radio.

The pilot returns with something muffled into the microphone and tries to lift off, but hits the ground again.

He turns towards the three in the seats behind him, "it looks like we can't take off. Only one of us is able to lift off."

And as the pilot bears the bad news, they watch the third helicopter, which only carries the supplies, fly off into the sky.


	12. Time to Factor

Realizing they can't leave, they all get out of the helicopters and stand together, looking up at the sky.

They all watch as the third helicopter goes further and further away in the sky, not knowing what to do.

"Is he going to come back with help?" Garcia asks as she steps closer to Morgan.

The rest of the team turns to the two other pilots, wanting to see what they know.

"Do you know anything about this?" Cruz asks strictly.

The man straightens his posture and coats his throat. "I know nothing of this situation. The helicopters won't lift off but Pete and I here will figure it out. We will get you guys out of here. You have my word."

"What's you name, young man ?" Rossi speaks up.

"Dean, sir. Dean Wilson." he replies.

"Thank you Wilson. Do you need us or?"

"No sir, you all may head back to the wreckage if you want to. Pete and I will see what's wrong and call you guys back up when we finish. We'll also try and radio in to see if they know what's going on."

"Thank you," Morgan says as they all turn back, heading for wreckage for another time.

When the team makes its back to the pit where they once slept, they crash into their pads, tired from the walk.

Cruz and Morgan carefully lay Kate on a mat and Garcia sits next to her, holding her hand.

"Aaron, could I speak to you privately," Cruz says as he gestures that they step away from the team.

"What's this about?" Hotch asks as they stand on the other side of the jet.

Cruz crosses his arms against his chest and sighs, looking at Hotch. "Does this seem like a 'regular' plane crash to you?"

"This keeps on going back to looking like a set up situation. I mean, have you seen the pilots? They were dead before the crash. And the fact that we weren't seriously hurt is extremely rare so something is going on. I don't even need to mention the 'copters not starting. "

Cruz nods, "exactly. But who killed the pilots? You were on call with Garcia so none of you could have done it, not that I'm thinking you did anyways. You think it could have been murder suicide from one of the pilots? One goes rogue, jams the steering wheel and ruins the control panel, kills his partner and then kills himself."

"That can't be," Hotch shakes his head in disbelief, "those two have flown us for years! Doug and Marty would never have done something like this."

"Aaron, you need to keep your mind clear and-"

"It's hard to do so when your have a concussion sir," Hotch interrupts.

Cruz shakes that last comment off and continues, "and we need to see this as if we weren't personally involved. That way, we can get out of here faster."

"Yes sir. Is that all?"

Cruz nods again, "yes."

Hotch turns back around and returns to his team, leaving Cruz standing alone.

"What'd he want?" Morgan asks as he sees Hotch.

"Just had some questions," he answers as he sits down on a mat.

He takes a breath and watch his team, who is sitting around hurt, and he can't do anything about it.

"Guys, I understand we have had a crazy several days and you probably just want to sit and rest until rescue comes but we need to try and find out what happened to our jet, what happened to the pilots and why we were not more seriously injured during this crash. Is anyone willing to work with me here?" Hotch asks as he looks around at the others.

"Of course," Rossi says as he stands in moves towards Hotch.

"Count me in," Morgan says as he gets to his feet.

"Me too!" Garcia adds.

"We are a team Hotch; we will all help you," JJ says as she gives a weak smile.

Morgan turns to Hotch, "what do we need to do?"

"We work this like another normal case. Why was the control panel ruined and the steering wheel jammed? Why were the pilots dead before impact? We can figure it all out if we work together and keep our minds open."

"Are we thinking one pilot turning on the other, destroying the controls and committing murder suicide?" Reid asks.

"It has to be, the controls wouldn't ruin themselves," Morgan adds.

Hotch, taking in the information, speaks. "Morgan, Rossi, and JJ, go into the cockpit and see if you can find what caused the mess and the murder weapon if possible. Reid, Cruz and I will check the rest of the wreckage to see if anything else would cause the jet to dysfunction. Garcia, would you mind staying here with Kate?"

"I'd be glad too sir," she says with a smile.

"Thank you, let's figure this thing out."

And with that, the team splits into groups and go to their told positions.

Rossi and Morgan walk into the pilot's area, JJ standing at the entrance.

"Why would someone do this?!" JJ asks in disbelief.

"That's what we are trying to figure out," Rossi states as he bends down to look at the object jammed under the wheel.

"JJ, come here for a second," Rossi says, still looking under the steering wheel.

JJ makes her way over to where Rossi sits and kneels down next to him, Morgan also moves closer to see what's going on.

"Jennifer, what's this look like to you?" he asks pointing to object under the wheel.

JJ takes a good look at it and backs away, "I've seen one of those before..."

Morgan shakes his head, "I don't follow, what is it?"

"Afghanistan. I've seen these in Afghanistan before," she says as she shakes her head, not wanting to think back to those times.

Rossi, not wanting JJ to have to explain, stands and walks towards Morgan. "It's something the military gave the unit JJ and Cruz were in. A special pin, not sure of all the details."

Morgan nods, as JJ suddenly arises and rushes past the two men.

"Cruz!!" she yells as she hurries towards the man.

Cruz turns towards JJ, as she runs up to him and wraps her arms around him, beginning to cry.

"JJ, what's wrong? " he asks, as the Rossi and Morgan catch up.

JJ just shakes her head and attempts to stop the sobs, so Rossi speaks for her.

"We found something that may involve your time in Afghanistan.."

Hearing that, Cruz hugs JJ and whispers something into her ear, as she nods.

JJ leans away from him and walks away, "she's going to sit with Garcia for a while," Cruz states.

"Now let's go check this out," he says as he follows Morgan back to the cockpit.

Rossi points out the pen jammed behind the wheel, letting Cruz examine it.

After a few minutes of silence, Cruz stands again, "only a few were given this pin, representing we were part of the mission. We went through hell there, especially Jennifer, so it's best to not talk specifically about it in front of her."

The team nods, as Hotch speaks up, "we did find something small out on one of the pieces of debris, if you mind following me."

He stops as they reach a piece of metal. "Here," he points to a black metallic thing attached to the jet.

"This could bring down the jet, like sending off radio waves or something. Could totally interfere with the controls," Morgan says.

"So we have a jammed steering wheel and a transmitter on a wing. What about the pilots?" Reid asks.

"Well we can't do much until they are examined by a medical examiner. We have done a good job collecting evidence, now ago we can do it wait for the helicopters to be fixed," Cruz says.

"That may not be long," Hotch states as they turn to see Dean walking towards them, giving them thumbs up.


	13. Time to Leave

The team finally meet up with a pilot, Dean Wilson, looking tired and dirty from working on the helicopters.

"Have you come to inform us that you have gotten the helicopters working again?" Cruz asks.

"Indeed," the pilot says with a smile. "Follow me and I will show you what we found."

Everyone follows Dean back to the two helicopters where Pete is sitting, waiting for the others.

Pete rises when the others approach and shakes Rossi's and Cruz's hands and waves at the others.

Hotch steps forward, "So what did you guys find about the helicopters? Did you get them to start?"

Pete smirks and and Dean chuckles a little.

"Hell yeah, we figured it out! Pardon my language but Pete and I are the best at our job, we could figure out anything about a helicopter," Dean says.

"And what'd you find?" Morgan asks.

"Nothing good. Someone had to have access to the fleet because wires were loosened, we found a tracker, and this little black metallic box.

"Black metallic box?" Hotch repeats, "sounds like what we found on the plane."

"You found one attached to the plane?" asks Pete.

Hotch nods his head, "yes, we found it under the left wing of the wreckage."

Dean and Pete look at each other for a second and Pete puts his head in his hands, "that can't be good at all. Someone had to have done something. There has to be a meaning to all of this."

"You wouldn't have by any change brought the box with you?" Dean asks.

"Ha no," Rossi says with a shake of his head, "unless you felt like carrying a big chunk of the wing with you."

"That's what I figured," says Dean, "would one of you be able to take me down there so I can look at it? The rest of you can stay here if you'd like."

Cruz uncrosses his arms from his chest, "Morgan and I can take you down, the rest of you start with Pete. We'll be back shortly."

"And maybe carrying the left wing," Morgan says jokingly.

The three men leave shortly and the rest of the team sits in the shade by the base of the two helicopters.

"So, how long have you been flying?" Garcia asks Pete, breaking the awkward silence.

"Good question," Pete replies with a smirk, "I've been flying as long as I can remember. My dad was in the Air Force, so I've grown up around planes. They are my life."

"That is amazing," Garcia says, "your dad must be very proud of you for flying for the FBI."

"I'm sure he would," Pete says softly as hooks towards the ground, "he died when I was 17. Plane crash.. How ironic?!"

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Garcia says as she gives him a hug.

"And this isn't going to look so hot on the record either. Two experienced pilots stranded because they can't fix their 'copters, " Pete says with a sigh.

Hotch looks up, "Pete, I promise you, nothing bad will happen to you or Dean from this, as long as I have something to do with it. You two are the ones getting us out of here. "

Pete looks up at Hotch with watery eyes and gives a smile smile, "I appreciate that sir. I really do."

Silence comes again as they all sit on the ground, waiting for the others to return.

"Did you know the 3rd pilot?" Rossi asks out of the blue, "the one that flew off?"

Pete shakes his head, "some new kid, Kyle. He wasn't even supposed to fly with us today; but Johnny never showed and we needed a pilot."

"You think he left on purpose?" JJ asks.

"I have no clue. I hope not, but like I said, I barely know him. That's why he was flying the supplies carrier, couldn't risk having him carry you guys just yet. Kinda happy I did now. "

The team thinks about that information for a minute, when Cruz, Morgan, and Dean reappear.

Pete stands as soon as he sees Dean wave for him to meet with him.

"It's the same thing," says Dean, "it had to do something."

"Do you think Kyle had anything to do with it?" asks Pete.

Dean looks shocked, "now why would you be asking that?"

"Dean, nothing against the kid but he wasn't even supposed to fly with us today. He just shows up, and insists on flying that helicopter. He - "

By this time, their voices have risen, calling to the team's attention.

Pete shakes his head but before he could say anything, Hotch steps forward.

"We were asking about Kyle because he flew away whatnot he didn't have an order from you to. Whether he is involved had not been determined, " he says.

Rossi nods, "as the saying goes, Innocent until proven guilty."

Dean takes a breath and nods his head, "I understand, I'm sorry for my outburst. This has kinda been stressful and-"

"Hey, no need to explain yourself. We all understand," Morgan says with a small smile.

After a minute of silence and the tension decreases, Cruz walks closer to have a word with Dean.

"You think you're ready to fly us out of here? "

Dean smirks slightly, " Pete and I will do one more look but I'm sure we can get you out of here soon. Pete, follow me. "

The two pilots begin their inspections of the helicopters as Cruz gathers up the team.

"Good news, we should be getting out of here shortly," Cruz says with a smile.

The team explodes with cheers and hugging and smiles. They all talk of getting back home until Dean and Pete return.

Within an hour, the two pilots rejoin the team, "looks like we'll be going home tonight," Pete says.

"We did the most thorough inspection and could find nothing wrong. We should get loaded up and head off," Dean says, looking happy but tired.

"You heard the man," JJ says heading to the helicopter, "let's get home."

Morgan pulls Kate to the helicopter and Dean and Pete help lift her in and buckle her up to a seat. Cruz, Morgan, and Garcia join Pete with Kate in his helicopter as the others climb into Dean's.

The pilots give each other thumbs up as they start up and begin to fly off the ground into the air.

They are finally going home.


	14. Time to Heal

The team's excitement grows greater the closer they get to Quantico. They sit and talk amongst each other when the pilots give them the heads up that they are about fifteen minutes out. 

They all look out their windows as familiar sights come into view and the thought of being home again becomes a reality. 

"I think Pete was planning to drop the others off and then take Kate to the hospital. Is that okay?" Dean asks as the sight of Quantico comes into view.

Hotch nods, "it would be faster that way, thank you."

"No problem," replies Dean, "we are going to be landing here in a minute."

After a minute of getting lower and lower, the two helicopters finally land on the ground.

Everyone quickly gets out onto the landing pad and break into a small cheer before several agents run through the doors, wondering who had just landed.

Before they met with confused federal agents for the unplanned and not radioed in landing, the director, along with Kevin and Agent Anderson, walk through the doors and meet them. 

"Oh thank God you all made it back safely," Kevin says as he shakes their hands and hugs Garcia.

"Wait, where's Kate?" Anderson asks after greeting the rest of the team.

"She was injured during the crash. She was going to get flown to the hospital after they dropped us off," Rossi replies.

"Well get going! We'll radio you in and meet you there," the director orders as they all scramble and an agent runs to the tower to call in the helicopter.

"Aaron, would you please go with them?" the director asks. Hotch nods and hops into the helicopter with Pete waiting.

The blades start to spin again and they lift off, Aaron looking down at his tired team.

When they reach the hospital's landing pad, there is already an emergency team waiting for them.

The crew carefully takes Kate out of the helicopter and puts her on a stretcher and run her inside.

Hotch tries to run along beside them, wanting to stay by Kate's side, but a nurse stops him at the door to the surgery room.

"I am with her. She is a member of the FBI and I should be able to stay with her," Hotch says quickly and impatiently to the nurse.

"I'm sorry hun. We should take a look at you anyways, you seem a little beat up," she replies in a calm voice.

Hotch had tried to block out the pain coming from his head and his arm, trying to protect and lead his team.

He nods and lets the nurse lead him into another room where she unwraps his arm and takes a careful look at it.

"Does this hurt?" she asks as she lifts his arm.

Pain tingles through his arm and Hotch nods slightly, trying to remain calm and together.

"Well, I don't think it's broken but the bone is bruised and it's sprained badly but I don't think we'll have to put you in a cast, a brace for a month or so should do the job."

The nurse walks out of the room to retrieve a brace and place a prescription for his head. Hotch walks out of his room and walks down the hall, running into the team.

"How's Kate?" Reid and Garcia stand, asking at the same time.

"I don't know. That's why I came down here to ask the front desk. They separated us as they wheeled her into surgery."

 

"I just asked," Cruz replies as he walks up to the group. "She is in surgery as we speak. The doctors say she has a fairly good chance of making it out but we don't know for sure."

"Kate's strong, she'll pull through," Morgan states.

The team nods their heads in agreement as Cruz speaks again.

"On another note, the director sent out an aviation and CSI team to look at the plane and bring back information. They should be back sometime tomorrow."

"That's good. The sooner they get back, the sooner we can start our investigation," Morgan replies.

"And how are you?" Rossi asks as he notices Hotch's arm is no longer in a sling.

"It's sore, but not broken. Which is a good thing," he says with a nod of his head, looking at the rest of his team.

"Reid, how's your memory? You probably need to see a doctor." Hotch asks, trying to get the focus off of himself.

Reid shifts uncomfortable, not wanting to talk about himself or make a big deal about his injury. "I'm okay, I'm remembering bits and pieces of things, mostly random facts and quotes."

"It's good you're remembering!" Garcia says happily.

"But it's the forgetting that's bad. Reid, we need to check you in. JJ, you also need to be taken care of," Hotch says with concern.

"I'll take pretty boy over to the main desk to get him signed in," Morgan says with a smirk as he leads Reid away.

"How's your head, JJ?" Hotch asks as Morgan and Reid walk away.

JJ shrugs, "it's fine I think. Doesn't hurt too bad."

"JJ, you're going to get examined if you like it or not," Cruz states, turning to walk to the main desk.

"Matt wait," Hotch says strictly as JJ sits down. Hotch sits down next to her and looks at her, "what's wrong JJ?" he asks sincerely.

"Nothing, I just want to see Will and Henry. I want to go home," she says as her voice cracks. 

Hotch stands and reaches his arm out to help JJ up, "how about I have Garcia give them a call to come over here as you go get your head checked out. I'm sure Rossi wouldn't mind staying with you."

"Thank you Hotch," she says with a weak smile and walks towards Rossi, who helps her to the main desk.

Cruz steps towards Hotch and gives Garcia a look, signalling her to give them a minute alone.

Garcia stands, "I am going to go call Will now."

When Garcia is out of earshot, Hotch speaks. "What was that about? You cannot be the big boss here and order us around. Especially to someone who just when through what we all did!"

Cruz matches Hotch's tone, "what do you mean! She needed to see a doctor and she wasn't going too. I was helping!"

"No you were not! You two may have history together in the past but you do not have permission to treat her like that. All she wanted was to see her husband and child. Surely that's understandable for you."

"Since when are you all about emotion anyways?! When do you care about others," Cruz says heatedly.

Hotch steps right up to Cruz and stares him in the eyes. "Don't you dare. You do not come between my team and I. I care about them, they are my family. You have to show respect to get respect and quite frankly sir, you've now lost most of my respect as a leader."

"I-"

"Gentlemen, please lower your voices and sit down or I'll have to escort you out. Find another place to resolve your problems," interrupts a security officer, accompanied by a nurse.

Hotch nods and sits down quietly, dropping the topic as Cruz turns and heads towards the door.

On his way out, he pushes past Morgan.

Morgan meets Hotch back in the waiting room, "what was that all about? Cruz seemed upset."

"Not now Derek, please." Hotch says as Morgan sits down besides him.

"Yes sir. Just wanted to tell you that Reid has gone for an MRI and I think JJ is scheduled for one too," he replies and doesn't ask any more questions.

"Thank you for informing me," Hotch says in a calmer voice than before.

Time passes as people get up and leave and more come to sit, Morgan and Hotch still sitting, waiting for any news. 

"Anyone in here for Callahan?" asks a doctor in scrubs.

Hotch and Morgan stand quickly and head over to the doctor.

"Kate Callahan?" he asks.

"Yes," both men say as the same time.

"Well," the doctor begins, "she has made it out of surgery."


	15. Time to Reunite

Morgan lets out a relieved sigh, "thank God. I've got to go tell Garcia the news."

Morgan thanks the doctor once again and walks away to find Garcia.

"Will she make a full recovery?" Hotch asks the doctor once Morgan is gone.

The doctor takes a breath and looks at Hotch, "I'm sorry, as of now, we can't say. She did well in surgery but her brain is still swollen-"

"But she's okay right?"

"She's in a coma. She has brain activity and that's a good sign but she's not well enough to wake up. We are not giving up on her though. She fought this long, but for now, we can only wait. I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Hotch says as he nods his head slightly and the doctor turns and walks away.

"Was that Kate's doctor?" asks Garcia as she and Morgan walk up beside Hotch.

Hotch nods again, "yes it was. He came to say that Kate is in a coma-"

"Oh my G-" Garcia gasps.

"But there is a good chance that she'll wake up. Her body just needs to heal first," Hotch says reassuringly. "Garcia, did you get a hold of Will and Chris?"

"Yes sir, Will and Henry are coming now and Chris will be on his way because I thought she was still in surgery."

"Thank you."

Garcia nods her head and smiles half-heartedly in response.

The team remains silent until Rossi reunites with them, "JJ is getting an MRI done as we speak and Reid is in with some doctors. So it looks like we are playing the waiting game now. Hear anything about Kate?"

"She is out of surgery but in a coma. But the doctors are hopeful," Hotch answers.

"Where did Cruz go?" Rossi asks when he notices he is not there.

"He left," Morgan states quickly, after seeing how Hotch had reacted to it when he asked himself.

"Left?" Rossi questions.

Hotch sighs and brings his hand to his head. "After you and JJ walked away, we talked and we butted heads. We all are tired and we've been through a lot, but I assure all of you, nothing is wrong. Matt just went back to the office. I'm sorry if I've lost my temper with any of you. I don't mean too. You guys are my family and I would do anything to make sure that you all are safe and sound."

Everyone stays quiet for a minute, all in shock of what Hotch had just said.

"Aaron," Rossi steps forward, "I don't know what that argument was about but I stand by you."

"We all do," Morgan adds on.

Garcia, unable to think of something to say, moves and gives Hotch a hug, which he returns.

They part and Hotch opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by the nurse who had examined him earlier walking up to him.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you, you weren't supposed to leave your room and you were supposed to keep you arm elevated." she scolds.

"Sorry," replies Hotch sympathetically."

"Don't worry about it hun. I placed your prescription and I have a brace for you," the nurse says as she unwraps a black brace and motions for Hotch to extend his arm.

She wraps his forearm in the brace and tightens is accordingly.

She finishes and Hotch thanks her for her everything she's done and she walks off to attend to other patients.

"Wear that and you'll be good as new and a few weeks," Morgan says with some sarcasm in his voice.

They all chuckle a little and go to sit down and wait for news on the rest of their team.

"You should call Jack. He'd want to know that you made it back okay" Rossi says as they sit down side by side in the waiting room chairs.

Hotch considers it but shakes his head, "I think I'll wait until we hear about how everyone else is. Jack has seen enough pain and he doesn't need to worry about me."

"That kid has been through more than anyone should ever go through but you're his dad and don't you think he'd feel better knowing that you are okay?"

Hotch objects again and Rossi begins to explain it to him more when Garcia looks at him in the eyes and he drops the topic because he knows that she has already taken care of it.

"Hello?!" someone says as they rush through the front door of the hospital and to the front desk.

"Hey, calm down sir, you need to wait your turn," a security guard says to the man.

"Will?" Morgan stands, "Will! Hey."

Will walks over the the rest of the team in distress, "where's JJ?"

"JJ was taken in for an MRI and a check up. She was injured in the crash but not badly. You stay here with the team for a minute and I will ask the front desk if we can go see her," Hotch says as pats Will on the shoulder and heads to the front desk.

The team watches as Hotch talks to the lady behind the desk and wait for him to return.

"What'd she say?" they all ask together as Hotch walks back towards them.

"She said that they are still waiting for the results of the tests but we can go visit her. Follow me."

They walk down several hallways and turn some corners when Hotch stops in front of a closed door.

"This is hers," he says as he opens the door.

Will is the first to walk in, followed by the rest of the team.

"Will!"

"Jennifer!"

JJ squeals and breaks into tears as she sits up in the bed and hugs Will.

The couple reunite as the team steps outside the door and they find Reid's room, which is only a few doors down.

Morgan knocks on the door and then enters, "hey pretty boy, get any of that precious memory back?" he asks as they all walk in to find Reid sitting in the chair in the corner of the room.

"Bits and pieces, still waiting for the results of the tests."

They all sit and chat, talking about moments the team has had together when Garcia's phone buzzes.

"Its Chris, he's here."

Hotch and Garcia stand to leave the room to meet up with Chris, but before they walk through the door, Reid stands.

"Can you tell us where Kate's room is so we can head down there in a few minutes? I'd like to see her."

"Sure thing," Hotch replies and they walk back down the halls to the lobby.

"Chris," Hotch says as he shakes Chris' hand, "she made it out of surgery."

"Is she okay?"

"Chris, she's in a coma right now... The doctors said her brain is swollen but she is doing good and has a good chance of waking up."

Chris shakes his head in disbelief, "can I go see her?"

Hotch nods, "yes of course, right this way."

They reach her door but Hotch stops before they enter. "I am so sorry for all of this, I did not mean for any of this to happen."

"Hotch, please don't blame yourself. Garcia explained some of the details on the phone and this is not your fault. I just want to thank you for all you and your team have done to save her life."

With that, Chris opens the door to find Kate laying in bed with tubes and IV's hooked up to her. "Oh Kate... It's okay, I'm here now. You can make it through this, I know you can. Stay strong sweetheart."

Soon after, there is another knock on the door and the rest of the team walks in.

"Kate-"

"Oh my-"

"Chris-"

Chris stands to greet them, "I would like to thank all of you for saving her. She would never have made it if it weren't for you guys. You are truly Meg's and my lifesavers. Thank you."

"I'm sorry it turned out this way," JJ replies."

They all talk around Kate for some time when Garcia's phone buzzes once again.

She takes a look and gives a small smile.

"Sir," she directs towards Hotch, "there is someone in the lobby asking for you."

Hotch excuses himself from the room and walks down the halls and into the lobby. He walks towards the waiting room when he stops in his tracks and smiles.

"Dad!" Jack says as he runs towards him.


	16. Time to Work

"Hey buddy," Hotch says as he bends down on his knees and lets his child run into his arms.

Jack wraps his arms around his dad and whispers, "I missed you Dad."

"I missed you too Jack," he replies as he looks up to find Jessica standing nearby.

Hotch stands and walks towards his ex sister-in-law, "I'm sorry, I didn't call you when we landed. It wasn't meant to scare you guys."

Jessica shakes her head and hugs him, "don't worry about it. All that matters is that you all made it back safely," she replies.

"You're okay, right?" Jack asks from behind.

Hotch turns back towards him and smiles, "I'm okay, just hurt my arm a little, nothing to worry about. I'm sure your mom was watching over us."

Jack smiles, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too bud, me too."

"How's the rest of your team?" Jessica asks with concern.

"Well, we all made it back. JJ hurt her head, Reid can't remember, and Kate, um, is in a coma. The rest of us are fine."

Jessica lowers her head, "I'm sorry Aaron."

"It's okay, it could have been worse. And let's just be thankful for that."

"Hey Hotch," Rossi interrupts as he rounds the corner and walks towards him. "Cruz called, said he wants us back at the office asap. Hey Jack, haven't seen you in awhile," he says as he pats Jack's shoulder. "And Jessica," he says as he gives her a quick hug.

"Okay, I'll meet you back in Kate's room in a minute."

Rossi nods, gives Jack a high-five and heads back to Kate's room.

"I'm sorry," Hotch says to Jessica.

Jessica smiles, "it's okay Aaron, you need to work and find out what happened. You go, Jack and I will be fine."

"Thank you so much, I promise to be home right after we solve this case."

She nods her head and Hotch heads over to Jack, "hey, I need to go to back to work but I promise I'll be home soon. Be good for Aunt Jessica."

"I will Dad," he replies with a small smile as Hotch walks back towards Kate's room.

When he arrives back in her room, the team and Chris are talking. "How's Jack?" JJ asks.

"He and Jessica are fine, just were worried. Are we leaving to go back to the office now?"

"Yeah, Chris- call us if anything happens and we'll drop everything and come here," Morgan says to Chris, who is sitting by Kate's side.

"Don't worry about us, we'll be just fine. You guys go find out who did this."

"Will do," Rossi says as he heads towards the door.

The rest of the team follows and when they reach the lobby doors, Hotch stops.

"Are you guys cleared to leave?" he asks directed to JJ and Reid.

"Yes," JJ responds, "I'm just not supposed to go out in the field quite yet."

"Reid?" Hotch asks, waiting for the answer to see if he can leave.

Reid nods, "I can leave, I just might not be helpful to you guys."

"You'll be of help," Morgan states with a smile.

Hotch, satisfied with the answers, nods. "Good, JJ say bye to Will and meet us by the vans."

The team walks out the hospital doors, leaving JJ and Will where they stood. 

JJ looks up at Will, "give Henry a kiss for me, I promise to be home when I can."

Will nods, "just stay safe. And don't push yourself too hard, you're still injured."

"Thank you"

"We'll see you at home. Now go catch up with your team."

JJ gives him a quick kiss and walks out the doors to meet up with the others. 

She gets in the back of one of the Suburbans, where half the team waits, and they leave.

They arrive back at Quantico and take the elevator up to their floor, where they are met by Cruz.

"The CSI teams are back with pictures and reports of the crash. The reports aren't final but they're a start. Meet in the conference room in five. Hotch, can I speak to you privately?" 

Morgan looks quickly at Hotch, who nods and signals for them to head to the conference room. Hotch follows Cruz into his office where they stand in silence.

"About earlier-" Cruz starts by Hotch cuts him off.

"Sir-"

"I apologize for what I said to you about not caring for your team. I know you care for them like family and I should not have come between that."

"Thank you. I'm sorry for my response. I understand and respect why said it."

Cruz smirks as he heads towards the door, Hotch following, "what a crazy past several days."

Hotch laughs, "you're telling me."

The two men reach the conference room where case files lay spread out across the round table, with the team sitting, examine the pictures and reports from the crash.

"Normally, agents personally involved with a case are taken off and the case is given to other agents, but saying that you guys are one of the best teams, and already involved, I see no point in reassigning this case," Cruz says as he walks around the table, glancing at the pictures and the team, who had stopped to listen to what he had said.

"Did they find anything when they were down there?" Hotch asks as he picks up a report written by another agent.

"Nothing that we didn't see first," Morgan adds, looking up from a file.

Hotch shakes his head, "What about the black box? Have they figured of the pilots radioed anything or if they did anything?"

"The box is with the aviation crew, they will let us know if they find anything," Cruz answers before the others.

"Is there anything else?" Hotch asks, not knowing what the teams did while they were there. 

"They transferred the pilots back here. They are in our morgue right now, we should be getting those reports tomorrow,"  
Cruz answers.

Hotch looks at his team, who look tired and beat down. "I think that's all we can do for tonight. Everyone should go home and get a good night's sleep. We can relook over the files in the morning."

"Are you sure?" JJ asks.

Hotch nods, "yes, go home and get some rest, meet back here at eight."

The team close their files and stand. "Goodnight," each one of the say as they exit the room to leave.

"Night," Hotch replies as he heads towards his office to work.


	17. Time to Investigate

Hotch sits in his office staring at the open files that lay upon his desk. For the past several hours, he sat, thinking of motive to why someone would target their jet and potentially kill them, but no new reason besides the regular 'FBI- put bad people in jail' motive.

Hotch stands and steps away from his desk and starts pacing around the small room.

Tired of being confined, he opens his office door and stands, looking at the bullpen. Hotch has stayed behind after everyone had left many times but never had felt is so lonely.

Hotch steps closer to the railing and puts his elbows on it, resting his head in his hands.

"You haven't left, have you?"

Hotch jumps slightly and turns to fund Garcia next to him, looking concerned.

"Haven't had time, stuff to do," he responds.

Garcia shakes her head in disapproval, "that could all wait until morning. You have a son at home who is waiting to see you. Plus, you look exhausted. You should go home for a few hours."

Hotch simply just nods.

"At least call Jack and sleep on your couch in your office," she says when she realizes that he isn't going to go home that easily.

"I will, thank you Garcia. You should go home too," Hotch says as he turns back towards his office door.

He gets back into his office and stands by the phone, thinking of what to say to Jack or Jessica. Shaking his head, Hotch closes the files on his desk and walks out the door again. 

He gets into the empty elevator and heads down to his car, where he gets in and heads home.

Hotch stops as he pulls up to his house and sits in the running car for a few minutes.

He turns off his car, gathers his belongings, and gets out; careful not to slam the door and walks up to the door and is about to unlock the door when his phone buzzes.

"Aaron Hotchner," he answers as he steps away from the door.

"Hotch, sorry to wake you but we got the medical examiner's report back and it's interesting. I'd like everyone to come in so we can get started on this," Cruz says on the other end of the line.

"I'll be there shortly, call everyone else in," Hotch says as he turns back towards his car and drives off once again.

When he reaches work again, he meets the rest of the team in the parking lot and they walk in together, not sure what Cruz meant by an interesting medical examiner's report.

They all gather in the elevator and head up to their floor, where Cruz is waiting with a tired but concerned look on his face.

"What did the report tell us?' Morgan asks as they all step out of the elevator and walk with Cruz to the conference room.

They reach the room, which was just like they left it, files spread out everywhere and chairs scattered around the room, and sit.

Cruz hands to everyone, a new file which held the reason why they were there at the break of dawn.

"Well it verifies that one pilot did indeed kill the other while in flight. The ME put the time of death of Doug about 60 minutes into the flight and Marty's 45 minutes later," Cruz reads from the paper.

"So Marty killed Doug... Why?" JJ asks.

"They flew us for years, they've been partners for years." Morgan states.

"What changed? What made Marty snap and kill Doug and ruin the jet?" Garcia asks.

The team sits in silent momentarily, as they all wrap their minds around the death of both of their pilots and the fact that one of them killed the other mid-flight and crashed the plane, and as the looks of it, purposely. 

"The reason has to be here somewhere," Hotch says, breaking the silence. "The report also says that Doug was murdered by asphyxiation but there was no bruising or marking left behind."

"He could have used his arm," Cruz replies, "even though he was a pilot, he was an FBI pilot so he had to have some training to be certified to fly you guys."

"That actually fits," Morgan states, "he tells Doug that he is going to go to the bathroom, gets up, and goes behind Doug and strangles him from behind. That way, Doug wouldn't be expecting it and wouldn't have time to sound an alarm or put up much of a fight."

"Then he flies for a while more, to make sure we didn't hear anything, and when we don't come, he jams the wheel, destroys the panel, and kills himself. That's when the jet starts to head down," Rossi adds.

"That sounds like it could work, I think it's worth having some of you go back to the ME and check for defensive wounds on Marty, I don't think Doug would have gone without a fight," Cruz says to the team as he looks at Hotch to give orders.

"Morgan and Reid, you two head to the ME and look at the bodies again. The rest of us will stay here and continue to look over the files to see if we can find anything we missed before."

Reid and Morgan close their files, stand, and head out the door.

The two meet with the medical examiner, who has both bodies ready for them.

Morgan stands over the body of Doug and asks the ME, "did you find any defensive wounds on either of them while you were examining them?"

"Not that I could tell, the bodies are pretty beaten up from the crash and the transport back here."

Reid moves across the room and looks at Marty's body, "I found one," he says as he looks at the arm.

Morgan and the ME turn towards Reid and they all look at the arm.

"They look like nail marks," Morgan states.

Reid nods his head, "when Marty put his arm around Doug's neck, Doug's reflexes would be to claw at the arm, and that looks like what he did."

"By the way Marty did it, it would only take minutes to kill Doug. Doug wouldn't be able to scream out and because his arms were by his neck, he wouldn't have hit any buttons or set off some sort of alarm," says Morgan as he backs away from the body and turns towards the ME. "I think we have all we need here, thank you for your help."

They both turn towards the door and head back to the office. 

When they reach the conference room, everyone is right where they were before they left. Reid and Morgan take their seats once again and tell their findings.

"Marty had nail marks on his forearm where Doug clawed at the arm around his neck," Reid tells the rest of the team.

"Did you guys find anything new?" Morgan asks.

Cruz nods and answers, "we pulled Marty's file and his latest psych evaluation just to see if he had recently had any sudden life changing issues."

"Which we did not find," JJ adds.

"Yes, we didn't find any life changing problems. He had a wife, a nice home, and didn't seem upset flying for us," Cruz continues.

Rossi flips through a file, "a few days ago, he did receive a call at home in the middle of the night by a federal number."

"Have we pulled anything on that Kyle kid who flew off in the third helicopter, or even Johnny who didn't show up to fly? That is all suspicious," Morgan adds into the conversation.

Hotch scrambles through several files that lay in front of him and pick up two thin files.

"Kyle is new, was only certified two weeks ago and hasn't been on a real flight before that. Johnny on the other hand, flying just as long as Marty and Doug, he often flew with them when they needed a third flier. He just never checked in and never called in sick. In fact, it says here that Kyle wasn't even supposed to be there that day," Hotch reads to the team.

"Well, that makes things even more interesting," Morgan half jokes.

"Could we get the psych eval on Kyle and maybe his phone records? One of our two disobedient pilots had a mysterious call at home so maybe he did too," Rossi asks.

Cruz nods his head, "I'll request those files. While we are waiting for them, it might be worth paying Johnny a visit because he hasn't been to work since he was supposed to fly. It would save his department a visit saying they are very short-handed and I think it may clarify things for us."

"We'll get on that," Hotch says as he stands from the table and the rest of the team follows his actions.

"Be safe!" Garcia says after them.

Cruz continues to sit, "keep me updated!" he says as everyone else leaves the room.

The team gears up and heads out to their waiting SUVs and get in. 

Once they reach the address in Johnny's file, they pull over and get out.

"You two," he says gesturing towards JJ and Reid, "you two be careful, you're already injured and I don't know what we're going to find in here."

"We will be okay Hotch," JJ reassures.

He nods and they split into two groups, one to go through the front door, and one for the back.

Hotch takes Reid through the front door and enter the house.

"Clear," he yells as he stands in an empty living room.

"Clear," he hears Morgan shout from the kitchen.

Hotch and Reid make their way to the master bedroom where they stop in their tracks. 

"Guys, in here!" Hotch yells to the rest of the team. 

They quickly make their way into the bedroom and find Johnny on his bed.

Rossi pulls out his phone and gets Cruz on the other line, "Hey, we found him. He's dead."


	18. Time to Dig

"Great," Cruz sighs as he puts his head in his hand as he sits in the conference room alone with Garcia. "Assess the scene and then get back here. We've got to figure this all out."

"You got it," Rossi replies as he closes his phone and heads over to Hotch and the others. "He says to look this place over and then get back so we can go over everything again."

Hotch nods slightly, "okay, well the coroner's office is on their way over to take the body back and start an autopsy."

FBI techs arrive and look over the house while the team stands in the corner of the bedroom, trying to understand what had happened.

"It looks like he was strangled," JJ says as she makes her way over to the body.

"And there was definitely a struggle," Morgan states as he gestures to furniture that is on its side and broken objects around the room.

"But the doors were not broken in, correct?" Reid brings up.

Rossi nods, "the back door was intact."

"So was the front," Hotch adds.

JJ shakes her head slightly, "so Johnny let the guy in."

"Or the killer forced his way in. Johnny wasn't that big of a man, he could have easily been pushed back," Morgan suggests.

The coroner finishes preparing the body for transport and with help, places the body bag on a stretcher and begins to wheel it out of the room. 

"I'll send the report over as soon as I finish," says the coroner as he exits the room. 

"I believe we have all we need for now. Let's head back to the office and sort this out," Hotch says as he and the team exit the room and leave the house.

Once they arrive back at Quantico, they head to the conference room where Cruz and Garcia are as they were when they left. They all take their seat and each pick up a new file which had been placed in front of them.

"These are the records we requested for Kyle and everything we could get on Johnny is on its way. I also put in a request for the rest of Marty's files, so they should be here soon," Cruz explains as everyone glances at the files.

"Kyle's psych evaluation came back awfully clean, almost too clean," Morgan states.

"I agree," Cruz replies, "I asked to meet with the instructor who overlooks the testing. He should be here in an hour or so."

"Hey," Reid says as he looks up from the file, "did you notice that Kyle also got a phone call in the middle of the night from a federal number. It came from the same number."

"Garcia noticed that one," Cruz responds as he nods at Garcia, who is sitting at the opposite end.

"Turns out I'm more than a pretty face," she says with a smile. "Okay, on to a more serious note, the call both Marty and Kyle received was at 2 a.m. from a federal number that I traced back here. Oddly enough, I couldn't get any further because all the lines here are secure, so it will take a little more time and magic."

"Good work Garcia," Hotch compliments.

"Thank you sir," she replies with a small smile.

"Excuse me sir?" Agent Anderson says as he knocks on the door. "I brought those files on the pilot, Johnny."

Cruz stands to greet the agent, "thank you Anderson," he says as he shakes his hand and takes the files.

Anderson nods and exits the room while Cruz sits back down, passing out the newly delivered files.

"Same caller- five minute long conversation," Reid reads from the file.

"So that is a giant connection there," Cruz restates.

Garcia continue to type, "I'm working on it sir. You'd think it'd be easier because I actually work here, but it's going to take some more time."

Cruz nods, "just keep doing what you're doing."

JJ flips through several pages within the file, "his bank statement shows quite a bit of money coming and going."

"Gambling?" Rossi suggests.

"It's possible," Hotch responds.

"Well it looks like money would be withdrawn Friday afternoons and most of the time, twice as much money would be deposited the next morning. This happens pretty much every week," JJ continues.

"Sounds like gambling to me," Morgan adds.

"Illegally?" Cruz asks.

Rossi nods, "most likely. You don't get that much money in one night from a legal game."

"The press won't like that, 'A long time pilot for the FBI found illegally gambling'" Cruz sighs.

"What if he was blackmailed. I mean, someone could have figured it out and threatened that if he didn't do as he was told, he'd be reported and lose his job," Reid speaks up.

"That's definitely possible," Garcia says as she clicks on the remote in her hand and the TV behind her turns on, showing what she's looking at on her laptop. "Listen, okay so both calls going to Marty and Kyle were three minutes long, but the one to Johnny was five minutes."

"So, maybe Johnny wasn't so keen on doing this dirty work," Morgan states.

"That's what I'm thinking," Garcia agrees, plus get this. Johnny went missing three days after this call. The same day Kyle received the call."

Hotch sighs as he closes the file in his hands and sets it down, "so most likely, this possible FBI guy blackmails Johnny, Johnny refuses and he kills him. He then bribes Kyle instead to get the job done."

"Kyle was Johnny's replacement. But why would a pilot, only certified two week, want to take us down?" JJ questions.

"He was probably bribed. Someone wanting to take down a branch of the FBI definitely has something to offer," Morgan answers.

"Have we fully grasped the concept that someone, who most likely works here, tried to kill us!" JJ exaggerates. "I mean, Doug, Marty and Johnny are dead-"

"Partly because they chose to help this guy," Morgan interrupts.

JJ gives him a look and continues, "Kate is in a coma, Reid lost some of his memory, and the rest of us could have been seriously injured."

"JJ," Morgan says in a sympathetic voice.

"Morgan, don't 'JJ' me right now! Someone took down our jet, while we were in flight! Someone attached devices to the jet and those helicopters to let us die out there!"

Garcia taps her hand to her head and exclaims, "that's it! I'm sorry JJ but you mentioned the jet. There are cameras in the hangar where the jet is stored. We'll be able to see who placed in there. Just give me a minute."

The team patiently sits as Garcia frantically types on her keyboard.

"Volia!" Garcia says to her laptop screen. She clicks a button on the remote and security footage pops up. She hits play and the video goes for a few seconds then cuts out. Thirty seconds later, it plays again, showing someone place the device on the jet.

"Why'd it cut out?" Hotch asks.

Garcia clicks her tongue, "someone tried to outsmart me by turning off the cameras. Little did he know, the cameras reboot on a generator when suspiciously turned off. And it looks like we have our bad guy."

"He was smart, even if he thought he turned them off, he never faces the camera," Rossi gathers.

"Probably his FBI training," Morgan says in a sarcastic tone. 

JJ sneaks him another dry look, still not over his earlier comment.

"Blond hair, average height, medium build. Is there a way you could run that through agents that work here because no one else has access to those hangars," Cruz asks.

"I can try," Garcia says as she continues to type. "But it will be difficult because we usually don't have a picture of the back of their heads on file. And the description is just too generic, too many people will match. But I will try. Forty-one agents match the description of short blond hair, average height, and medium build. Sorry but we need to narrow that down."

"Would you be able to pull footage of the helicopter hangar to see if it's the same man placing the device?" Reid asks.

"Ah! You're still a genius, my boy," Garcia smiles and points at him. 

He blushes slightly as Garcia goes back to typing. She clicks the remote once again and a new video pops up. "This one was placed minutes before we got on the helicopters to go out." 

She hits play and it shows a different man walking into the hangar, reaching into his bag, placing the device by the controls and loosening some wires on two of the tree helicopters."

"Is that Dean and Pete walking in?" JJ asks.

"Looks like it, they must have just been notified," Hotch replies

The video shows the man shake hands with the other two pilots as they talk for a moment. Pete and Dean, shaking their heads, each get into their helicopters as the third man hops in his. 

"And here we come," Cruz states as he and Garcia are shown walking in and getting in Pete's helicopter.

"Garcia, can you match the picture of the man to the picture of Kyle in his file?" 

"Of course sir," Garcia responds and quickly answers, "it's a match." 

"Well, that confirms that," Morgan says as he sits back in his chair. 

"Sir?" Agent Anderson knocks again.

"Anderson," Cruz greets the agent.

"Sir, there is a man here for you. Says you asked to meet him."

"Yes, of course, I'll follow you to him," Cruz says as he gets up and follows Anderson out of the room.

A few minutes later, Cruz reappears with the man. "Team, this is Inspector Carter, he was in charge of Kyle's psych evaluation."

"Hotch stands and greets the man, "Aaron Hotchner."

"Nice to meet you sir. I was told you needed insight of Kyle Milner?"

"You are correct. Kyle is a suspect in an ongoing case and his eval came back very clean and we wondered if you had anything to add," Cruz tells the inspector.

"Yes, Mr. Milner took the test in record time and passed with flying colors. Because he was new and quite young, I suspected that he cheated but I had no proof so it went nowhere and he got certified," Inspector Carter explains.

"Do you think he shouldn't have been cleared?" Morgan asks the man.

"I believe he should have been re-tested at least.. He took the test with ease and confidence while other first timers have panic attacks before it. He was just over confident, as he knew before hand what would be on it."

"Well thank you for coming in," Cruz shakes his hand, "you have been of much help."

The man nods and exits the room.

"Oh Kyle, what did you get yourself into?" JJ asks to herself. 

"The helicopter made it back when he stranded us out there, correct?" Morgan asks.

"Wrong actually. The helicopter was left at an unsupervised landing pad about 30 minutes from here. The 'copter was left unattended and the FBI just picked it up a few hours ago," Garcia explains.

"So we have no clue where he's hiding," Reid sighs

"Maybe not," Garcia reassures, "so his apartment was empty when agents searched it earlier and the landing pad where he left the helicopter was heading in the opposite direction of his home. If you looked into his family history like I just did, you'd notice his grandmother passed away several months ago and her house is just sitting empty. It's close to the pad."

"That'd be a nice spot to hang out and avoid police," Morgan comments.

"We should go check it out," Hotch says as he stands from the table.

"Call me if you get anything," Cruz says as he closes the file in his hands.

"Will do sir," Hotch responds.

"Be safe my loves!" Garcia yells as the team files out the door.


	19. Time to Question

"Kyle Milner, open up. It's the FBI!" Morgan shouts as he pounds on the front door of the suspected hideout.

He, along with JJ wait for a reply or movement from inside, while Hotch, Rossi, and Reid stand in the back of the house in case he tries to escape.

"No answer," Morgan says through the microphone that goes to the other agents.

"Give one more warning. If there isn't an answer, kick it down," Hotch quickly replies.

Morgan pounds on the door again, "Milner, last warning. Open the door!"

They all wait a few seconds when Hotch gives the okay.

JJ moves aside as Morgan takes a step back. He moves swiftly, kicking the door open with ease.

The two enter, guns drawn. "FBI, show yourself," JJ shouts as they walk through the entry room. They continue to search when they hear Hotch kick in the back door and enter.

Commotion sounds from the kitchen when Hotch says through the system, "Morgan, out back."

Morgan turns and runs out the front door and rushes towards the side of the house.

When he turns the corner, he spots Kyle, who quickly turns and runs back to the backyard. Morgan chases after him and when Kyle is in reach, Morgan jumps towards him and takes him to the ground.

"Gotcha," Morgan states as he holds him down and cuffs him. He then stands, pulling Kyle up with him.

Kyle remains silent and emotionless as they head back towards the back entry of the house.

When they enter, everyone is surrounding Hotch, who is sitting on the floor against a wall with his hand on the back of his neck.

"What happened?" Morgan asks as he pushes Kyle into a chair.

Crowbar," Hotch answers as he stands and kicks a crowbar to the middle of the room.

"Hotch kicked open the door and we entered. He jumped out swinging this, hitting Hotch in the process. He swung at us but headed for the door. That's when Hotch got your attention." Rossi explains while all eyes go to Kyle, who sits with a blank expression.

Hotch turns to have his back towards the door, "Let's call in a tech team to search the place as we get him back to headquarters."

They all turn and exit as Morgan grabs Kyle's shoulder and pushes him along to the SUVs.

They all reach the doors of Quantico as Morgan passes Kyle to another agent to book him. The team takes the elevator and walks to the conference room once again, where Cruz and Garcia remain where they were.

"Get him?" Cruz asks them as they all take their seats.

"Got him," Rossi quickly answers.

"You going to go talk to him?" Cruz questions.

"He can wait a while," Hotch replies with little sympathy in his voice.

Cruz looks perplexed as Reid answers his unasked question. "Kyle hit him with a crowbar," he says bluntly.

Cruz's eyes widen and Garcia gasps. "Are you okay?" she asks.

Hotch nods, "I'm fine."

"It's just not our week is it?" Morgan jokingly asks as the rest of the room snickers.

"It certainly is not," Rossi agrees.

"Well, did you guys find anything at the house?" Cruz asks, getting back on topic.

"We didn't spend too much time looking, Hotch was down and we had Kyle. We called in a team to search it though," JJ reassures.

"Guys! We have a traitor here. You don't know who else he could have on his side. They could be destroying evidence," Cruz exaggerates. "You should have called me!"

"Sorry sir, but we did what we thought was best. Kyle was unresponsive so we brought him back as soon as possible," Hotch says.

"Plus, we've been their targets, who knows if he had anything else in store for us in that house," Rossi adds.

"Well, you should talk to him to find out. I'm going to go make sure that decision of your's didn't just cost us this case," Cruz says as he stands and exits the room.

"Garcia, would you mind pulling together a detailed file on Kyle real quick?" Hotch asks as he remains seated along with the others.

"Of course," she exclaims before she starts to click away on her laptop.

"What if he doesn't talk?" Reid asks. "He wasn't so keen on communicating earlier."

"We'll make it work," Hotch assures.

"Sir, I just sent his file to your tablet. His whole life story is there for you; everything I could find is in that file," Garcia says as she looks up from her screen.

"Thank you Garcia," he tells her. "I'll go question him and see what we can find out," he says to the rest of the team.

"You want me in there to help?" Rossi asks.

Hotch shakes his head, "no, but you can watch; see if you notice anything helpful."

Rossi nods as they both stand up and leave the room.

The two reach the interrogation rooms as they spy on Kyle, who sits on the other side of the glass, handcuffed to the table.

Hotch, tablet in hand, enters the small room and sits across from Kyle. "So Kyle," Hotch clears his voice as Kyle continues to stare past him. "Why'd you do it?"

He pauses for a reply but with none, he continues. "I guess we can start by reading about yourself," he says as he opens his tablet to view some of Garcia's files. "Kyle Milner, only son of David and Beth Milner, sister named Savannah. You are 24 years old, went to good schools, and you have a college degree. What happened to you? You were on a good track. How'd you get involved in a scheme to take down a branch of the FBI?" Hotch stands and starts to pace around the room, looking through documents on the tablet.

"Here's something else we know, you cheated on your psychological evaluation. We talked to your instructor and he told us that you took the test in record time and got a perfect score. How'd you manage to do that Kyle?"

Kyle continues to stare past Hotch as Hotch gets annoyed and slams his good hand against the cold, metal table. Kyle does not react to the startling noise, but he does move his glare from the wall to Hotch. Hotch matches his stare and remains silent, waiting for Kyle to speak.

Kyle takes a breath and hisses, "you were supposed to die!"

Hotch steps back, surprised at those words. He turns to the door when he falls to the ground.

Rossi, witnessing this all from the other side of the glass, rushes in to Hotch's side.

"Help!" he yells as Hotch lays unconscious on the hard floor.

Morgan comes running in, looks at Kyle and then down to Hotch and Rossi, "what the hell happened?" he asks as he bends down to Hotch's other side.

"I don't know. He was talking, Kyle spoke, then Hotch turned for the door and passes out.

"What did Kyle say?"

Rossi looks up to Kyle, who sits with a small smirk on his face. "He said, 'you were supposed to die,' referring to Hotch."

Morgan stares at Rossi and then back down to Hotch, worried.

Soon after, EMTs arrive and escort Hotch out of the building and to the hospital.

As Morgan updates the team on Hotch, Cruz and Rossi head back into the room which holds a once again, emotionless Kyle.

"That was good timing you had there Kyle," Cruz says as he takes a seat across from the young man. "Did you plan that or something?"

"If anything happens to him, you will be charged with murder," Rossi says aggressively as he stands by the door.

Both agents stare at him momentarily when he speaks.

"It was not planned but he will be pleased," Kyle says without moving his stare.

"Who's 'he'?" Cruz demandingly asks as he leans forward over the table.

"No one," Kyle replies as he sits back in his chair.

"Listen here Kyle, we know you have an accomplice. We know he is an agent here at the FBI. We know he was able to persuade three other pilots besides you. He murdered the one before you because he wanted out. We also know that you placed devices on the jet and two of the 'copters before stranding us in the mountains!" Rossi recalls angrily.

"Why'd you do this? huh? Is he threatening you or your family" Cruz asks.

"No," Kyle denies in a stern voice.

Cruz nods, "well, is he paying you to do this?"

"Not yet."

"So it's a long term plan! You have more planned, don't you?" Rossi snaps.

Kyle does not answer, only stares at the wall.

"Why are you helping this man?" Cruz finally asks.

"We believe. Hotchner was supposed to die so he could take over! Hotchner has been in charge too long. Hotchner has caused too many problems that he can't fix. Time for him to take over," Kyle states.

"Hotch was the target during all this?" Cruz asks for clarification.

"All you are just as bad. Hotchner has held the team of his together too long. Time for new," Kyle adds.

Cruz and Rossi glance at each other.

"So, you're telling me that your boss wants to essentially join the BAU?" Rossi asks.

Kyle nods for a response, "he wants to lead the team."

"What's his name Kyle? What is his name?"

Cruz demands.

As he asks, his phone buzzes in his pocket.

"It's Garcia," he states after looking at the screen.

"Go ahead," Rossi says. "I've got him."

Cruz steps out of the room and the two remain in silence for a minute.

"You know Kyle, if you tell me his name, it looks good in front of a judge. Shows that you cooperated with us; could get your sentence reduced."

"He yet wants to be known by name," Kyle replies.

"But if no one knows his name, how will he get credit for taking down Aaron Hotchner?"

Kyle remains silent, thinking.

"He has spent so much time and effort on this. It'd be a shame if something happened to where they needed a replacement for Hotch and won't know how great of an option he would be," Rossi manipulates.

Kyle stares at the center of the table, not saying anything.

Rossi moves behind Kyle, "He'd be so upset he didn't get the position. He'd probably take his anger all out on you. You don't want him to blame you, do you?" he adds.

"He needs this position. He's tried for years," Kyle looks up to Rossi.

"Is that so? If you tell me his name, we'll put his name on the list of possible replacements. I'll put a good word in because, you know what, I believe too. Aaron Hotchner has been in charge too long. So, tell me his name Kyle."

"You believe?" he asks.

"Yes, I've worked under the man for years! It's time for a change of faces," Rossi says.

Kyle begins to tap his foot, the first sign of anxiety he has shown.

"It's okay Kyle, I'll put a good word in about him. What's his name?"

"His name is Jeffrey Sanders," Kyle finally admits.

At that time, Cruz re-enters the room, "We got his name, it's Jeffrey Sanders. He is a long time agent here."

"Perfect for the job right?" Kyle says enthusiastically.

"Yes he is," Rossi responds sarcastically as he and Cruz leave the room and make their way back to the conference room.


	20. Time to Finish

Hotch wakes up in a small white room, in a bed that's not his own.

"I told you to be careful," says a voice from the entrance, "see what you get yourself into."

Hotch sits up, "where am I and who are you?" he asks demandingly.

"You are back in the hospital. You didn't listen to what I said and you passed out. You were brought here," the nurse from earlier explains as she steps into the light.

Hotch attempts to stand but gets light headed and sits back down.

"You need to rest for a while. That plane crash gave you a nasty concussion and I fear you might have made it worse by not taking the meds that were prescribed for you and going back to work. Don't even try and say you didn't do anything because you've got that gash on the back of your neck, which we patched up."

"Thank you, it's kinda been crazy, but I need to leave. I need to go and help my team," Hotch says as he gets to his feet.

The nurse makes her way to him and sits him back down on the bed, "you need to rest your body. I'm going to go and get your meds, so don't go anywhere."

The nurse leaves and Hotch turns to the nightstand, where all his belongings lay. He picks up his phone and puts it to his ear after dialing a number.

The phone rings several times, and then a familiar voice answers the phone.

"Jessica? Can you do me a favor... " Hotch pleads through the phone.

He hands up and gathers his things. He stands up slowly, his balance still shaky. He then exits the room he was assigned and heads toward the main entrance where Jessica waits.

"Thank you," says Hotch as he climbs into the passenger seat and buckles up.

Jessica looks at Hotch, "are you okay?" she asks.

"I'm fine," he states. "I'll be better when this case is closed."

Jessica shakes her head, " I mean how are you feeling? You've been in the hospital twice in just a few days."

Hotch sighs, "honestly, my arm hurts and my head is killing me. But I have to help my team finish this case."

"I understand," Jessica says as she puts the car into drive. "But you have to take care of yourself."

Hotch nods, "I know that. It's just that this man attacked my team in attempting to kill or seriously injure us, and he has to pay for that."

They both sit in silence for the rest of the drive back. The car stops in front of the main doors and Jessica turns to Hotch once again. "Just be careful, for Jack."

Hotch nods and steps out of the car. "This ends today," he states and heads inside.

He makes his way up to the conference room and stands in the doorway, looking at his team, who sit, planning, around the table.

Morgan looks up, "Hotch! What are you doing back?"

"We needed to solve this case. Did he tell you anything after I left?"

"Yeah," Rossi responds, "he gave us a name. Jeffrey Sanders."

"Jeffrey Sanders... Why does that name sound familiar?" Hotch asks.

"It's probably because he's a special agent who happens to work in this building, and has for the past 13 years," Garcia speaks up.

Hotch walks over and leans on his chair, focusing on the name.

"From his file, it looks like he mostly does desk work, never really in the field," Reid says as he skims over the file.

"Jeffrey Sanders..." Hotch repeats to himself, still standing over his chair.

"I don't know if I've ever seen this guy before," Morgan states. "You say he mostly works the desk?"

Rossi nods, "looks like he tried to climb the ranks but always ended back there."

"Oh God," Hotch says as he steps back and puts his hand to his head. "Jeffrey Sanders."

The team focuses on Hotch as JJ asks, "you know who he is?"

"Yes."

"Have you worked with him before?" Morgan asks.

"No," Hotch replies as his closes his eyes and leans over his chair again.

"But you know him?" Morgan continues to ask.

"Kind of, but I know how he's connected to all of this, why he's so motivated."

"Why?" JJ and Garcia ask in unison.

Hotch shakes his head a few times in disbelief. "He wants our job."

"Seriously?" Morgan asks. "He's trying to kill us for this job?"

"He has tried to become part of the team before. I've interviewed him a few times, when Gideon's and Prentiss' spots were empty. He tried hard to get the job; he memorized some of our cases to try and impress me but he just wasn't a match. Like Reid said, he mostly works at a desk so his physical qualification wasn't great and something in me just wasn't sure he was right for the job," Hotch explains.

"Well I guess your gut was right on this guy," Morgan states. "Do you have any idea on how we are going to get him? Like is he downstairs right now, typing away, or is he on the run like our pal, Kyle?"

"The computer says the Jeffrey Sanders is at work today," Garcia answers. "Says he checking in at 7:30 this morning and hasn't left."

"Do you think it's him or is he playing a joke on us?" JJ asks the group.

Hotch walks towards the door, "there is only one way to find out. Anyone joining me?"

JJ and Reid stay with Garcia in the conference room while Rossi and Morgan follow Hotch to the elevator.

The elevator doors close when Rossi turns to Hotch. "What are we planning to do if he's here? Ask him if he'd talk to us? Arrest him?"

"I don't know yet. Let's just see if he's here." Hotch answers as the doors open.

Hotch leads the two towards where Sanders' desk is to find a man, matching his description, sitting at the desk.

"Jeffrey Sanders?" Hotch asks.

"Yes?" The man answers as he turns around and notices the BAU men. "Ah, it took you long enough. I was beginning to think that you guys wouldn't come after me."

Morgan glances at Hotch and Rossi in confusion while Rossi answers by slightly shrugging his shoulders.

"So, are you going to cuff me now or are we going to go have a nice little chat?" Sanders asks as he stands and steps towards the men.

Hotch gestures for Sanders to walk in front of him, "I think we need to talk, Jeffrey."

"Oh, I'd love to have a chat with the famous Behavioral Analysis Unit!" Jeffrey says sarcastically as he walks towards the elevator with Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan at his side.

Morgan leads Sanders into an interrogation room and closes the door after Hotch enters the room; while Rossi watches from behind the glass.

"Where do you want to start?" Sanders asks as he folds his hands and rests them on the table."Why?" Morgan asks bluntly.

"Because I wanted to. It wasn't that hard either. The FBI gave me everything I needed!"

Hotch paces the room, "we know you had a reason Jeffrey. You've been trying for this job for years and never made it. Your little sidekick verified that for us. Told us about your vendetta."

Sanders rolls his eyes, "Kyle wasn't my sidekick; and I knew you would find him and could make him talk. Like it isn't anything you guys should be proud about. He was a nobody that wanted to help my cause."

"Yeah, a nobody who got a perfect score on his psych evaluation. Did you help him cheat, Jeffrey?" Hotch asks.

"No, I did not help him cheat. Don't think so little of me, Aaron. He was a smart kid, maybe a little too smart for his own good," Jeffrey answers.

Hotch moves to sit at the seat across from Sanders. "To quote what Kyle said to us, he said that I was supposed to die so that you could take over. Was that your plan? To kill me and take over the BAU?"

Sanders smirks, "I heard that you passed out during that interview. Are you planning to do it again here?"

Morgan, who is standing in the corner of the room, rolls his eyes. "God, you are so immature! Just answer our questions because there are no way you are getting out of this."

"Okay, okay. No more games. I'll answer all of your questions."

"Why did you take down our plane?" Morgan asks.

"Because all of you guys have held these jobs for years and I've tried to get in and I've sat behind my desk and have done all the boring work, trying to get up the ranks and trying to get noticed by you guys. And it hasn't gotten me anywhere or anything!"

"So you thought the best way was to take down our plane in the middle of nowhere?" Morgan asks.

Sanders nods, "yes, why not. It almost did the job." He looks up at Morgan and Hotch, "sorry no offense."

"We know that you got a hold of our pilots and blackmailed them into doing your dirty work. You called them and exploited their weaknesses. You had Marty kill Doug mid flight and you had Kyle leave us and the other pilots out there. Oh, and lets mention that you had Johnny killed because he would not fly for you," Hotch states.

"Yeah, I got them to fly for me. It honestly wasn't that hard. I told Marty that I'd hurt his family and he did everything I wanted. Kyle was just ready to do something so he was the easiest. Johnny had that bad habit of gambling and I only had to tell him that I knew. He was going with the program but something made him chicken out. He liked you guys too much and would not agree to be a part of your end so I ended him."

"You killed Johnny?" Morgan asks.

Sanders shakes his head, "oh God no. I had someone do it for me."

"You do know that there is no way that you are getting out of this, right?" Morgan clarifies.

"I am aware. That is why I'm telling you all of this."

Hotch nods and stands from the seat. "Since you have told us all of this, I am going to have to ask for your badge."

"Yes, of course." Sanders says slowly.

"Jeffrey Sanders, please stand up. You are under arrest." Hotch says as he reaches for his cuffs.

Sanders stands and places his hands behind his back without saying a word.

"Are you actually allowing us to take you away with no fight? I mean, you tried to kill us and now you are letting us do our jobs and arrest you?" Morgan asks, not understanding Sanders' reasons.

"I tried to get rid of you guys. You guys survived and got me. There is nothing else in my power that I can do. You obviously are the best guys for the job." Sanders says sincerely.

Hotch starts to lead Sanders out of the room when Morgan steps in front of them. "One last thing," Morgan says to Sanders as he stares him in the eyes, "this little stunt of yours put one of my friends in a coma, made another one forget everything, and have hurt the rest of us. If any permanent injuries result from this, trust me, you will pay. I can and will make your life a living hell. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," Sanders replies as Hotch leads him from the room.

As they exit the interrogation room, Rossi pulls Hotch aside. "The hospital called. They want us to come in, for Kate."

Hotch gives Sanders to another agent to take away while Hotch meets the others and leaves for the hospital.

When they arrive, they head towards Kate's room where Chris is standing outside the door.

"Oh my! Is Kate okay?" Garcia asks with concern.

Chris nods, "she is. She woke up about a half hour ago. You guys can go in and see her."

The team heads into the room and is greeted by Kate sitting up in bed. "Hi guys, what did I miss."

"Alot," JJ says with a small laugh.

"You woke up just in time," Hotch says, "we concluded our investigation. We got them. Morgan and I got a full confession earlier."

"That's great!" Kate replies.

JJ looks at Hotch, questioning his statement. "He really confessed everything?"

"Yes."

"Why would he go through a plan like that and then confess everything?!" she asks to the room.

Morgan puts his hand on her shoulder, "I have no idea, JJ. No idea."

The team sits around and talks to one another, catching up and relaxing after a hectic few days.

After the group has talked for a while, Chris asks Hotch to step outside with him.

"What can I do for you?" Hotch asks Chris.

Chris pulls an envelope from his pocket and hands it to Hotch, "it is Kate's letter of resignation. We feel that it would be best for her to take it easy right now. This was just a too close of a call. I'm sorry, Aaron. She loved this job and it was not an easy decision for her or us."

Hotch takes the letter, "it is the best for her. Is it okay if we stay and talk for a while longer?"

"Of course! You guys are family to her. Now go in and talk about whatever you all were talking about. It makes everyone feel better."

Hotch gives Chris a hug, thanking him for what he has done. "I'm going to make a call real quick so don't start the party without me."

"We wouldn't dare!" Chris says as he enters Kate's room.

Hotch steps aside and pulls out his phone and dials a number and puts the phone to his ear. "Good afternoon Dean, it's Aaron Hotchner. Sorry to bother you but I wanted to thank both you and Pete for everything you did for us out there. We would not have made it home without you two."

"It was a pleasure, sir. We were happy to do our jobs, even if they weren't in the best circumstances," Dean responds.

"I have a question for you Dean, and for Pete too. Would you consider being our full-time pilots? We all saw what you did to get the helicopters working and we would be honored to have you and Pete fly us."

There is silence for a moment until Dean answers, "I would love to, sir, and Pete would too."

"Thank you again, Dean. See you soon." Hotch says as he hangs up the phone and heads back towards Kate's room.

He enters the room to everyone smiling and looking at Reid. "What did I miss?" Hotch asks.

Reid stands, "I remember! I got my memory back!"

The room erupts in laughter and applause as they all take their seats and then silence falls upon the room until Morgan speaks up. 

"Guys, we just survived a freaking plane crash."

The room, again, breaks out into laughter and at that moment, everything is just fine.


End file.
